


CoSL28: Missing In Action

by Dracophile



Series: Grimm-The Casebook of Sloane Larson [28]
Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Angst, Covert Ops, F/M, Reunions, episode rewrite, missing characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:27:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 39,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25958260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dracophile/pseuds/Dracophile
Summary: Part 28 of the Casebook of Sloane Larson! Rewrites/Summaries of Episodes 1 through 7 of Season 5! (Yeah, a lot)After the events of the night Juliette tried to kill him, Nick wakes to find her, Trubel and Sloane all missing. Confused, angry and hurt he's determined to find out who took them and get them back. But things are worse than he knows as a new threat begins causing havoc in Portland, his mother is still recovering from the attack, Adalind might have the opportunity to get Diana back, arranged marriages end in body counts, and Giant Rats start a rampage!
Relationships: Nick Burkhardt/Original Female Character(s), Rosalee Calvert/Monroe
Series: Grimm-The Casebook of Sloane Larson [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1061588
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	CoSL28: Missing In Action

\------------------------

**_The Grimm Identity & Clear and Wesen Danger_ **

\------------------------

He dreamed. He dreamed of Juliette, the happier times together. How much he loved her. Of her smiling and laughing and saying she loved him. Of feeling that love.

Of her resting on satin in a coffin. Of crying faces. Of his mother, battered as she was, standing with him with her eyes covered.

But when he looked up from the gravesite, he could see Sloane on a hill above, wearing a simple white dress. He moved to try and get to her, but the hill kept growing steeper. He called out for her, but she wouldn’t turn around. Finally, he made it and put his hands on her shoulders—only for her to begin cracking and breaking as though she were made of glass. She looked at him then, and her eyes were mirrors reflecting him. They cracked, and black blood ran down her cheeks.

“ _Help me…_ ” she whispered, before crumbling away even as he tried to keep all her pieces together.

_Help me_

_Help me_

_Help me_

The words repeated and Nick covered his ears, trying not to hear them as the ground opened up and began to swallow him whole. _I can’t…I can’t help…I couldn’t save you…I can’t save anyone…_ He felt the pieces coming back together, wrapping around him, and her voice like it was in her dreams with him.

“ _I love you, Nick.”_

\-------------------------------

Nick started awake and tried to sit up when he heard his phone, only to fall back down as the world tilted. He felt like a newborn dear as he got to his feet with the wall for support. He was still in his living room. But he was alone. Sloane wasn’t slumped in the chair Juliette had tied her to, and Juliette wasn’t lying dead on the floor. And Trubel…

“Trubel?” He called, making his way to the stairs, drawing his gun. No one answered. “Sloane?” he called, feeling a bit more desperate. Again, no answer. No sign that anything had even happened, other than waking up where he did. His senses and functions were all coming back as he searched the house quickly. His phone rang again, and he pulled it out and answered it as he went to check the front windows. “Hank.”

“Nick, just checking in on you,” Hank said. It sounded like he was driving and speaking through his Bluetooth in the car. “I'm heading in.”

“There were a lot of them,” Nick said, his mind whirring. “They must have drugged me or something.”

“What? Where are you?” Hank asked, confused but alarmed.

“At home. …Juliette's dead.”

“What?” He asked again.

“Juliette's dead. She was here, and she-she beat up Sloane and tied her to a chair and did…something to her, I don’t know. Then they took Trubel—no, then Trubel came and—”

“All right, Nick, stay there. I'm on my way. Explain when I get there.”

Nick nodded and hanged up but then immediately dialed Monroe and Rosalee.

“Hey, Nick. How are—” Monroe started.

“Have you seen Sloane or Trubel?”

“Uh, no…Are you okay?”

“When was the last time you saw them?”

“Last night, when Sloane left for the hospital and after you guys got back…”

“What's wrong?” Rosalee asked, knowing that urgent tone.

“Juliette's dead,” Nick said.

“What?” they both gasped.

“She was here. She had Sloane, she did…something to her! And then Trubel came and shot her and they took her body. They grabbed Trubel and Sloane too! I don't know what the hell's going on…I'll call you back.”

He hanged up before they could ask anything else, but both of them were in shock.

“Juliette's dead? Sloane…Sloane’s missing?” Rosalee said.

“What the hell?” Monroe muttered.

Nick was still searching the house, hoping to see any sign of Trubel and Sloane. But there was nothing. Then he paused as he tried to think about who would take her and one name came to mind. The one that kidnapped her once before. “ _Chavez._ Chavez knows something,” he said, rushing to the stairs just as Hank was coming in.

“Nick? Nick, what happened?” he said, trying to keep him from just running away.

“Juliette was here last night, trying to kill me. She would have, too, but Trubel shot her.”

“Trubel killed Juliette?” Hank asked, shocked.

“Yeah, with the crossbow, before she could kill me. But not before she did…something to Sloane. It was a spell—or a curse—it was terrifying to watch and she was just…catatonic afterwards! She must’ve taken Sloane from the hospital—My mom! I need to check on my mom!” he gasped.

“We will, but you’re sure Juliette is dead?”

“I was holding her when she died,” he spat out.

“I thought you said she got on the helicopter!”

“No, I saw her a woman to the helicopter. I never saw if it was her... Hank, she's dead. I was holding her in my arms...” he gasped out, the wound feeling fresh again. He began panting, hyperventilating, all if it getting to be too much.

“Okay, okay. Nick, Nick, Nick. Just take it easy,” Hank said, trying to calm him down. He breathed steadily, trying to get Nick to mirror him and it worked as he calmed.

He did, but his breath was shuddering as he tried to collect his thoughts. “Then we got hit…They came in from everywhere.”

“Who?”

“I don't know. But it was professional. They grabbed Trubel and Sloane. Juliette’s body…I tried to stop them. They drugged me. When I woke up, they were all gone. They took everything, even the crossbow.”

“Why?”

“So, there'd be no evidence of what they did or that Trubel and Sloane were ever here!” It was his best guess, but it felt right.”

“Was it the Royals?

“No, it wasn't the Royals. If it was the Royals, I'd be dead right now,” he said impatiently.

“Okay, then who?”

“Chavez.”

Hank blinked in confusion. “The FBI agent? That Chavez?”

“That's the only thing that makes sense.”

“Well, none of this is making much sense right now,” Hank pointed out, now also impatient.

“She abducted Trubel once before. And confronted Sloane.”

“What the hell?”

“To see if they were Grimm.”

“But what does she want with a Grimm?”

“Trubel told me that Chavez is part of a secret government group that wanted to use her to help them go after Wesen. She talked to Sloane too, but Sloane intimidated her into backing off.”

“But if they wanted a Grimm, why didn't they take you too?”

“Chavez doesn't know about me. When she was investigating Weston Steward shooting the captain, I wasn't a Grimm. And they saw one of the books from the trailer upstairs where Trubel was hanging out.”

“All right, how did they even know Trubel was here now?”

“They must have been tracking her or waiting for her to show up,” Nick said, heading for the door. “I don't know, but they knew. And they took the opportunity to grab Sloane when she couldn’t fight back,” he said in disgust, his anger boiling to a head.

“All right, Nick, I need you to slow down,” Hank said, striding after him and taking him by the shoulders.

Nick’s look showed he had no intention of doing that. “I need you to find out everything you can about Chavez.”

“All right, what are you gonna do?”

“I'm going after her,” he said, turning again.

“Hold on, wait. Wait. Wait!” Hank ordered, trying to keep him there but he opened the door. “You do realize you're talking about going after an FBI agent?”

“She's Wesen. I'm taking her down,” Nick growled. Hank watched him go, feeling like he was left with the floor crumbling under him. But he knew he needed to go talk to Renard about this if they were going to start taking on the FBI and headed out as well.

\----------------

Adalind was in bed. She really didn’t feel like getting out of it. She wasn’t sure she could. Nothing felt like it would get her out of bed. Nothing felt right.

“Adalind…?” Henrietta called softly. She didn’t respond and the woman sighed and walked over. “You have a visitor…”

“Not in…”

“She says her name is Susannah?”

Adalind perked slightly. “…What’s she doing here?”

“She didn’t say, just that she needed to speak with you. About Diana.”

That got her attention. She sat up and rubbed at her red rimmed eyes and nodded. Henrietta led her downstairs and Susannah was standing nearby to admire a painting. It was of a black woman draped in white cloth, with stars caught in the tight curls of her hair like the night sky. She looked at Adalind sympathetically when she came down. “Hello again…”

“Hey…you know something about Diana?” she asked, getting to the point.

“I know a lot actually,” Susannah smiled. “I’m the one that helped get her out of that mansion before they King could.”

Adalind’s eyes widened and Henrietta was surprised as well. “What?”

Susannah pulled out her phone and pulled up a video, showing Diana playing in a room. “Live feed. We have her in our custody.”

“The resistance?”

“Well…not exactly,” she said delicately. “I am part of that, and my work intertwines with them. But we’re actually a much bigger organization.” She looked at Henrietta, unsure.

“You can trust her,” Adalind said quickly.

“I promise, I’m not revealing anyone’s secrets,” Henrietta agreed, holding up her hand.

“…Alright. I’m going to still keep it vague because we do take this anonymity thing kind of seriously. But basically, we’re an offshoot of other covert agencies that deal with wesen issues. Wesen crime, terrorist groups, etc. But by extension, the royals. We killed the king last night.”

“You what?” Henrietta gasped.

“It was the best course of action at the time. We managed to get from him the object the royals have used for centuries to subjugate wesen. We’re studying it now before figuring out how to deal with it.”

“That’s…wow,” Adalind sighed. “But Diana…?”

“She’s very powerful. The other royals may know about her and want her, or others if they find out about her. Our goal is to keep her from being used as a weapon. My goal is to make sure they remember she’s a child. And I think she wants to be with her mother.”

Adalind gave a shuddering breath. “I want that too…please. I-I have something we can give her. It’ll suppress her powers.”

“You do?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes. No one will be able to tell she’s a hexenbiest. She can just be a normal little girl, till she’s older and we can figure out what to do. That was my plan. I’ve already taken it…my powers are there, but I can’t use them.”

Susannah nodded slowly. “I see…That’s quite a sacrifice to make.”

“Not for her. I did it to try and stop Jul…another Hexenbiest that might want to hurt me or Diana. It had to be tested. At this point, I just want to live normally with my daughter.”

She smiled and nodded. “Okay. I need to talk to some of the others, but I think we can work something out. Even if your powers are suppressed, you have a pretty extensive knowledge. They’d like to have more hexenbiest input. Would you be willing to sign on as a…consultant? It’ll mean regular check ins, but that’s just par for the course in this kind of organization.”

Adalind nodded. “That’s fine…I’d like to stay in Portland though.” Henrietta was surprised but smiled a little.

“You sure? We could set you up almost anywhere.”

“No. I…am making amends here. And I like the people. Plus, Sean is here, and Diana also deserves a relationship with her father. Even if I’m still not happy with him, I know he did what he did to help her,” she sighed.

Susannah nodded again. “Alright. I’ll see what we can work out. If I get the okay, I’ll be back, and we’ll take you in to hash out the details.”

“What if it doesn’t get the okay?” she asked urgently.

“If it doesn’t, tell them I’ll help if they agree,” Henrietta said. Adalind looked at her in shock.

“You? You’re…?”

Henrietta woged. “Not someone they want to say no to.”

Susannah kept her cool to her credit and nodded. “Alright…That might help.”

She changed back and smiled demurely. “She’s also become friends with the Grimm and his companions. Just saying…they’re not someone you want to mess with either.”

Susannah looked a bit more hesitant but nodded. “Right. I’ll let you know what I can work out.”

Adalind nodded then quickly hugged her. “Thank you…knowing she’s safe, not with the royals…that’s already a huge relief.”

She smiled and patted her back. “You’re welcome.” She headed out the door.

Adalind turned to embrace Henrietta as well. “Thank you…”

She smiled. “It’s fine. Very similar to what I usually do anyway, so I’m not too worried if they ask me to help. Though I’ll still expect additional compensation…”

Adalind chuckled. “I’m sure they’ll work that out with you. You’d be a valuable addition.”

She smiled. “So, feel like some food?”

“…I think I can finally eat a bit,” she nodded.

“Good. I’ll make some pancakes.” She headed for the kitchen and Adalind followed, moving to help a bit.

“…Henrietta, did you ever think about having kids?”

She paused in getting flour down but then sighed a bit. “I did, yes. It’s something that comes across many people’s minds after all. But honestly, I don’t think it’s for me.”

“Really? I mean, you’d make a great mom I think.”

“Well, I’m mothering you enough that’s for sure,” she smirked. Adalind smiled back. “But me trying to help you and be a good role model and friend to you is different from raising a child. And it just never really appealed to me. I like traveling, my work, my research—and all that isn’t really a factor with a child.”

“Yeah…I felt like that for a bit when I first found out I was pregnant. It’s part of why I could make that deal…but then I felt her kick and I realized I couldn’t give Diana up.”

“That’s fine too. But just not for me. If I’m not 100% into it, I don’t think it’s the best thing to go through with.”

“No, yeah, sorry, I don’t mean to sound judgy or pushy,” she said quickly. “Just…curious if you had children, considering you were a peer of my mother and Sean’s mother.”

She smiled. “That’s fine. Now, let’s get back to making pancakes because I’m hungry.”

\-----------------

Hank tried calling Sloane after Nick left. He honestly thought maybe Nick had finally just cracked under the pressure and stress and was confusing a dream with reality. But he got no answer. That was more than a little concerning, so he called Rosalee.

“Rosalee, hey—”

“Hank, Nick called us and said Juliette is dead and Trubel and Sloane are missing!”

Hank sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I was calling about. Can you call Sloane and see what’s going on?”

“I did!” she said. “I’ve tried calling like ten times since Nick did and she hasn’t picked up. We’re at her house now and she’s not here either!”

Hank frowned more, his worry now swinging into the realm of _Maybe Nick’s right!_ “Okay…okay, let’s not panic.”

“Why not? Because Nick wouldn’t lie about Juliette being dead! Or Trubel and Sloane being taken.”

“I know he wouldn’t, but he might be…confused.”

“Hank, I know it sounds farfetched, but weirder stuff has happened,” Monroe pointed out. “We exorcised your captain the other night. Is it so weird someone kidnapped Sloane and Trubel?”

“No…but Nick is saying that he thinks the FBI is involved.”

“The FBI?” Rosalee barked.

“More specifically, a lady named Chavez. Nick said when she came a while ago she met with him, Sloane, and Trubel, wanting to see if they were Grimms…to recruit them into some organization.”

“…Okay, I see why that might get a little hard to swallow…” Monroe said.

“But it’s still plausible,” Rosalee said firmly. “There’ve been other shadowy things we’ve dealt with, like that time the wesen mob kidnapped Sloane and Nick, and the Verrat, and the Royals.”

“True, true…”

“If we can’t find Sloane or Trubel, _something_ happened,” she finished. “Trubel might go off on her own again, but Sloane wouldn’t. Not without telling us.”

Hank sighed. “I see your point…Okay, I’m going to go fill the captain and Wu in. We need to find Nick though because he talked about confronting Chavez. And that is going to go south real fast.”

\-----------------

It did go south fast. After calling and making sure his mother was safe, Nick found the Portland FBI field office and requested (demanded) to see Chavez. He wasn’t intent on being subtle, he laid it all out about her being wesen and part of some other organization. She denied it and had him escorted (thrown) out of the building. Returning to the precinct, Renard was now updated by Hank and told him he can’t go into the FBI accusing them of kidnapping people. That it made him look crazy. When Nick resisted, he ordered him to take some time off. They had to investigate the attack on his neighbor as well, who was discovered that morning when someone noticed he hadn’t come out in a couple of days. Nick understandably lashed out, thinking none of them believed him.

The others looked for Sloane and had not luck. This meant as much as they hoped Nick just needed rest, he might be right. But they had no idea how to go about verifying it.

Meanwhile, Nick managed to get into the police database at home and find Chavez’s home address. He was intent to get answers and readied himself to go.

“Nick?”

He froze. That was Juliette’s voice. Coming from upstairs. He raced up, looking around. But it was empty and barren. It was always going to be now. Their bed, their home—it wasn’t theirs anymore and never would be. There was no chance now. She was gone for good. He shuddered, feeling the tightness in his chest and the tears in his eyes. Thoughts were racing—memories, laments, anger, grief, denial—until he couldn’t take it and quickly went back down and left the house.

\---------------

Chavez walked past several doors in the long corridor. Some were cells, some were just rooms. She stopped at one and walked up to it, pulling the outer slot open to look inside. It was dark inside, but she heard something moving—and then running for the door. She quickly shut it as she felt an impact and sighed. Then she continued on at the end of the hall was the control room—where they monitored field agents. Meisner was there and nodded as he walked up to her. “Chavez. What brings you by?”

“Checking in…any changes on the first one?”

He sighed. “Not for the better…”

“Hmm…and the second?”

He hesitated and several others looked at one another worriedly. “I haven’t updated outside the facility…”

“Updated what?” she asked.

“She…escaped,” he sighed.

“Escaped?” Chavez hissed, looking around. “How?”

Meisner sighed. “I’m not sure. We were transporting her to our northern facility at sunrise, and something happened that caused the car to wreck. Our agents are alive but they don’t know what happened either—the ones riding with her in back were beaten up and only remember she began screaming…I’m still trying to go through the car’s camera but I saw her run into the forest.”

She sighed. “Well, if she’s alive that’s good. We can track her down or see if she returns on her own and observe…and the last?”

“Seems to be doing alright, all things considered. I’m letting her rest today and debating how much to tell her…” he said.

“The less she knows the better…Burkhardt’s asking questions though.”

“Can’t blame him after last night,” He sighed. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure, but he’s coming after me. I’ll deal with him as best I can.”

\-----------

In hindsight, she should’ve expected Nick would get the jump on her, but she’d still though he wasn’t a real Grimm. When he’d snuck up behind her in her own home and managed to pin her before she could get her gun. She was against the mirror and Nick pushed her to woge—and sure enough, he was a Grimm. When he let go she tried to strike him, but he sent her flat with a punch across the jaw.

Nick though quickly hand cuffed her and got her to his car to take her to the shop. Chavez woke up on the way but remained stoic and silent. Rosalee answered the door after he called her, and her eyes widened when he marched Chavez in.

“Oh, my God!”

The others, who’d come up to meet him, were shocked as well. “You kidnapped Chavez?” Hank said.

“And brought her here?” Wu added.

Nick just nodded curtly, marching her towards the stairs to the basement where they came from. “Lock the door.”

Rosalee quickly did so while the others followed him. He pushed Chavez into a chair.

“What have you done?” Hank asked, his mind turning to all the laws being broken right now.

“She's Wesen, just like Trubel said,” Nick said, glaring down at her.

They all paused and looked at one another. They’d been trying to find out everything they could about Chavez but that wasn’t exactly something that would be in her FBI dossier or her Facebook.

“What is she?” Monroe asked.

“Steinadler.” He leaned in, both of them locking glares. “Who the hell are you working for?”

“You made a big mistake, Burkhardt,” she said back.

“The only mistake I made was not doing anything about you when Trubel told me what you did. You tried to recruit her once before. You threatened her if she told me. Well, guess what? She told me. And Sloane. So, she was well aware of you when you tried it with her, as I’m sure you remember.” Chavez didn’t even twitch. She was well trained after all. He glared and went to grab a book that was down in the basement, one of Sloane’s they’d looked through for a possible cure for Juliette. “You saw one of these books in my house. You thought it was Trubel’s that she brought with her. It was mine.”

“Wait,” Wu said, nodding as he remembered. “I saw the same book in the guest room. I left it on the bed. Somebody moved it.”

“That's why you came to the precinct, to talk to him. You weren't trying to find out about your fellow agent, Weston Steward. You wanted to find out if Nick was a Grimm,” Hank said.

“Only his powers were on the fritz, so you didn’t confirm it,” Monroe nodded.

Nick squatted in front of her. “Weston Steward was working for the Royals. That's why he shot Captain Renard. You ever figure that out?”

She still stared him down.

Monroe growled and woged and Rosalee followed suit. “You might want to think about coming clean,” he warned.

“Unless you killed Sloane and Trubel,” Rosalee added. “Then you really don't want to come clean.”

She looked minutely surprised a moment, the barest twitch of her eyebrows, but nothing more. The woged back and Nick glared. “You're not going anywhere until we get the truth.”

She sighed. “My life doesn't matter. There's too much at stake.”

“Well, somebody's gonna have to start trusting somebody,” Wu said dryly.

Nick’s cellphone broke the moment and he sighed, pulling it out to look. “…It’s the hospital.”

“Nick, you got to take it,” Rosalee whispered. “It could be about your mom.”

Nick hesitated but sighed and walked around the shelf to answer. “Burkhardt.”

“Mr. Burkhardt. It’s Dr. Frizzell. Your mother is awake.”

“She is?” he breathed. “I…how is she?”

“We’re still doing some post-op exams. Her eye of course is gone and the other needs to recover to find out if it’s viable. But her mind seems intact. She’s asking after you though.”

“…Okay. Thank you.” He hanged up, now feeling conflicted.

“Nick?” Wu asked.

“…My mom’s awake. She’s asking for me.”

“Nick, you got to go,” Monroe said.

He hesitated, looking at Chavez. Hank set a hand on his shoulder. “Don't worry about her, man. She's not going anywhere.”

Nick sighed and nodded gratefully to all of them before rushing up to the door.

Chavez watched him go, then looked at the others curiously. “You all know he's a Grimm.”

“Oh, we do. And Sloane and Trubel. We’re our own little group here,” Wu said.

Hank nodded, glaring at her. “If you’ve done something to Sloane and Trubel, you better hope we’re more merciful.”

\-------------------

Renard walked into his office after a briefing and paused when he saw a familiar face. Meisner was waiting in a chair and looked up when he walked in. “We should catch up…”

Renard sighed and closed the door quickly. “Yeah…I was afraid you were dead.”

“I was afraid you were dead,” Meisner shot back, watching as he went to sit at the desk. “I heard they sent Kenneth.”

“They did,” Renard said.

“Seems the police suspected him of some kind of Jack the Ripper. Guess he got here at just the right time.”

Renard frowned, knowing that meant he knew more than he was saying. “What are you doing here?”

Meisner sighed but tried to look as blasé as possible. “I thought you should know the King had an accident.”

Renard stalled in his thoughts as he turned that over. “What?”

“From what I've been told, he fell out of his helicopter somewhere over the ocean. The body has not yet been found.”

Renard sat back a little. While he was never close with his father, it was still a bit of a shock to learn he was dead. “…Diana was with him.”

“She's safe, don’t worry,” He said, gentling his tone and expression. “We already orchestrated getting her out before then. She's with friends.” Renard sighed in relief. Meisner went on. “Apparently Viktor wasn't too happy about being replaced by his cousin, Kenneth. None too happy with the King either for doing it.”

“So, Viktor struck a deal with the Resistance?” he asked, putting the pieces together.

“A little payback. They gave us your daughter...”

“And you took care of the King.”

“Let's just say I happened to be on the helicopter at the same time.”

“That puts Viktor on the throne. I’m guessing the King never changed his heir apparent?”

“He did not, so he is. For now.”

“…There’s something…the king has. That gives him sway over wesen.”

Meisner smiled. “Victor did ask about that as well…unfortunately, whatever was on the king at the time went down with him. In case you're wondering, they haven't found the helicopter either.”

Renard narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling that was double speak of some kind but dropped it. He didn’t want to get on the resistance’s bad side after all the work he’d done to get on their good. But there was one issue he wouldn’t drop. “Where's my daughter? I want to see her.”

“That is…complicated, at the moment. One of my members it seems has become friends with Adalind Schade. She’s moving that Adalind be given custody…with some provisions and help. If that happens, of course you would also be included.”

“And if they don’t do that?”

“Then they will ensure she is well taken care of, somewhere safe. I can’t make guarantees. I just wanted you to know what I did and where we’re at.” He rose, heading towards the door.

“How do I contact you?” Renard asked.

“I'll contact you. By the way, I was never here, and you don't know any of this,” he said, serious. “Bit of a cliché, but such is life.”

Renard nodded and watched him go.

\-----------------------

When Nick arrived at the hospital, he immediately went to the back. The doctor was waiting for him and led him to his mother’s room, which they’d moved her to after the incident last night. “Ms. Larson alerted us to the intruder and then ran after her. There was an altercation in the parking garage we think, though the cameras were disabled. But cars were…pushed around, apparently. She may have saved your mother’s life because she came to stand guard.”

Nick felt his gut twist but nodded. He knew that must’ve been Juliette leading her away, and then fighting her in the parking garage. Sloane had confronted her, convinced she was protecting Kelly. Maybe she was, or maybe it was a trap for her. He wasn’t sure. “Yeah…”

“Where is she? She didn’t return.”

“…She’s…missing.”

The doctor froze. “Missing?”

“Yeah…it’s…complicated,” Nick sighed.

“…Okay…Well, I hope she’s alive,” he sighed. Nick nodded, thinking the same. They got to the door and he opened it up.

“Who’s there?” Kelly asked, laying in bed. She sounded tired, but she was alert.

“Mom!” Nick gasped, going to her.

“Nick?” She turned her head, and Nick could see the bandages around her face and over her eyes.

“Mom…I…”

Kelly weakly raised her hand and he immediately grabbed it and squeezed. She was bandaged all over, including the wound to her neck the doctor thought might’ve been them trying to take her head. She swallowed slightly, dryly, and spoke softly. “They…got the drop on me. I’ve gotten stupid in my old age…”

“Don’t say that,” Nick said, squeezing her hand. “They were working around us this whole time…with Juliette’s help.”

“Mmm…I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you and Sloane…But they got Diana…In a way I’m glad they got her out of there before she saw…kids shouldn’t see that kind of thing…I tried to protect you from it…” She was rambling a little and Nick frowned. She was awake, but still medicated he realized.

“I…I know. I figured that out. I know you and Marie did your best.”

“Marie…I miss her…I miss you too…I miss Diana…we have to get her back.” She moved as if to get out of bed and Nick quickly put his hands on her shoulders to keep her down.

“Mom, you…you aren’t in any condition to fight.”

“I can still—”

“No,” He said more firmly. “Mom…Mom, the doctors said…One of your eyes are gone,” he finally said. “The other isn’t looking good either…”

“…Damn,” she muttered. “They got me with…a pipe or…something…it must’ve been that…”

Nick felt his heart squeeze. “You could’ve died…”

“I’ve had many situations like that,” she pointed out.

“Not like this,” he hissed. “You’re really hurt. You need to recover. And…the royals got away with Diana. They’re in the wind. We need time to track them down. We’re going to get Diana back, I promise, but you need to let us handle it while you recover.”

Kelly turned her head up to him, and he knew somehow she could see him even with her sight gone. “…Never thought I’d be forced into retirement…Always figured I’d go out on a job. That’s what most Grimms do…”

“I’d rather you stick around for a while,” Nick said. “I…we’ll make it through this.”

She sighed but nodded slightly and laid back when he easier her down. “Alright…just…be careful, please. I’ve lost my eyes, but I’m not gonna lose you.”

“You won’t,” Nick said, squeezing her hand.

She smiled a bit and squeezed back. “What happened after I was out?”

Nick hesitated but began to explain it all. Juliette’s helping the royals at the house, destroying Sloane’s collection, her surgery, sieging the mansion, Sloane coming here and fighting Juliette, Juliette confronting him…her throwing him around…her doing something foul looking to Sloane…Trubel shooting her…and the men in black coming for them.

“…Nick, I am…so sorry,” she said, squeezing his hand. “But Sloane…where…?”

“We don’t know. I don’t even know…if she’s alive.”

“…I don’t think Juliette intended to kill her if she did some sort of spell. But I don’t know what these people might do. If they took her alive, I have to believe they wanted her and your friend Trubel alive and not dead.”

Nick nodded, feeling comforted by the logical words. “Yeah…You’re right.”

“Of course, I am,” she smiled a little. “So…how long am I in the hospital?”

“A couple of days…then you can come live with me.”

“…You sure?”

“Never been more sure, ever,” he said. “Except…I don’t think I want to stay where I am…that house…”

“Can’t say I blame you…I can live anywhere, so I’ll leave that up to you.”

“Okay…I…didn’t get to tell you, but…Dierdre took Aunt Marie’s trailer.”

“…That bitch,” she said, sounding both angry and put out. “She always did like that trailer; she just wouldn’t admit it…”

“You’ve known her a while?” Nick asked.

“We met before I met your father. She’s about my age so we were introduce by our mentors—your father Walter was training me, Marie, and your uncle, George.”

“…I have an uncle?”

“…Had. My older brother, the oldest of us. He died a long time ago,” she said, turning a little more somber.

Nick winced. “Oh…but you both knew Dierdre?”

“Yes. She’s always been…hardcore, I guess you could say. Mainly because of her mentor, Egon Ketterling. He is…there’s things even most Grimms won’t do anymore, that he would do happily. I think he messed Dierdre up and made her that way. And a pain in the ass.” She sighed a bit, thinking. “…She almost left Sloane with us.”

Nick sat up straighter. “Huh?”

“When she was young…just after what happened to her grandmother. She called me and asked if I could take her. I got angry and told her to be a mother. Now…maybe I should’ve. It might’ve been better for her.”

“…It might’ve been…” Nick nodded. “I’m going to find her…and bring her back. I couldn’t save Juliette, but I’m saving Sloane and Trubel.”

Kelly smiled and squeezed his hand again. “I’m sure you will.” 

Nick smiled as well, and they visited for a while longer before his phone rang.

“Oh, you shouldn’t have that here I’m told,” Kelly chuckled.

“We’re in a more private area of the hospital, I can get away with it,” Nick said. He looked at the name and frowned. “It’s Hank…”

“Answer it. Your FBI agent might’ve done something.”

Nick nodded and quickly answered. “Hank, what’s wrong?”

“Chavez wants to talk to you,” he said, sounding suspicious.

“She tell you anything?”

“You need to talk to her,” he sighed. He held the phone up to Chavez, who looked at him seriously.

“This is your one chance to get the answers. You come with me, alone, and we leave in 20 minutes. After that, it'll be too late.”

Nick narrowed his eyes, but his mother set a hand on his arm. She could obviously hear the conversation thanks to her Grimm hearing. “Nick, go. I'll be fine.”

“You sure?” He asked, hesitantly.

“I’ll be recovering for a while. Go find your girls.”

He smiled and kissed her cheek before putting the phone back to his ear. “I'll meet you there.” He hanged up and looked at his mother. “I'll let you know as soon as I know something.”

“You better,” she said. He knew while some of it was real, she was putting on a brave face for him. He gave her hand another squeeze before leaving.

Getting back to the shop, Monroe met him at the bottom of the stairs, looking antsy about this. “Nick, I'm not so sure about this. She talked to somebody on the phone, and we didn't hear what they said.”

“He's right, Nick. This could all be a setup,” Wu said.

“She had to use her thumbprint to answer her phone!”

Nick frowned and looked at her. Chavez was as calm as could be, uncuffed now with her hands clasped in her lap. She looked at him back. “We're running out of time.”

“…You took Trubel once and you let her go,” Nick confirmed.

“I did,” she nodded.

He sighed. “Let's go.”

She rose and headed for the stairs, Nick a step behind her. Wu looked at the others, then back at him, then at the others again, unsure and a bit askance. “Uh... we're just gonna do nothing?”

“For a couple of hours, yeah,” Hank said, trying to stay calm with the underlying urge to follow them. “That's about as long as my trust lasts.”

Nick drove them and followed Chavez’s directions to a large, empty warehouse on the outskirts of town. “Stop. We walk from here,” she said, unbuckling her belt.

“Wait,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Who's in there?”

Chavez looked at the door to the warehouse, then to him. “You wanted to find out who I'm working with. You're gonna find out.”

“Well, how many?” he pressed.

She sighed, trying to be patient. “I'm not sure. We're never all together in the same place. But things are happening. We have to be prepared.”

“For what?” he asked, growing more concerned.

“What's coming…I can't tell you anymore,” she got out of the car and Nick huffed in frustration but followed.

He turned on his flashlight in the dim light now that the sun had set, checking the shadows to be safe. Nothing but trash and graffiti was illuminated though. As they climbed up the stairs to go to the entrance, he didn’t see any sign of life. “You sure they're here?”

“They're here,” she said, her shoes clicking and echoing in the empty concrete building. A busted pipe was leaking water and he trained his hearing to try and pick up anything else. But he couldn’t. And then his flashlight passed over a figure on the ground. It was a man—Caucasian, in a suit, with his throat torn open.

“Oh, God,” Chavez gasped. Nick looked around with the light and found another body, this time a black man in a suit, also with his throat torn open. Chavez was wide eyed and breathing a little harder. “Oh, no…”

“Who are they?” Nick asked.

“Who we were meeting with…”

Nick frowned, then focused his hearing again. Now, past the dripping water and his own heartbeat, he could hear heavy breathing coming from above.

“We have to go,” Chavez was saying, just as Nick turned to look up. A man in coveralls was there, ready to jump down on her. Nick pushed her out of the way quickly as he leapt, and he growled as he landed but managed to push Nick down. He moved to try and stomp on him, but Nick rolled out of the way and back to his feet. Chavez did as well, just as two more men came in, woging into various sharp toothed and clawed wesen. Chavez woged as well and began fighting two of them, showing off her CIA combat skills as she targeted their vitals and their knees to try and bring them down. The first was still targeting Nick after Nick kicked him in the ribs and they began trading blows. HE finally woged into a Galumcaedus and he cursed that he didn’t bring the vambrace with him this time. He tried to immobilize Nick long enough to take a chunk out of him with his jaws, but Nick managed to get out and struck him in the face then the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He then shoulder-threw him, so he was prone on the ground. While the large wesen moved to get back to his feet, nick looked for a weapon. The only thing he found was rebar in concrete nearby. Grabbing it, he pulled it free with a grunt. As the Galumcaedus turned while kneeling he brought the rebar down into the most unprotected place he could find—right into is left eye. He screamed but collapsed after he pushed it in harder.

Chavez meanwhile managed to finally get one of her assailants—a Phansigar—from behind and broke his neck with the twist of her hands. The other—a Balam—was on her too quickly though and slashed his long claws right through her stomach. She screamed and he gave another as she stumbled back. Nick rushed over and drop kicked him away, straight into a crumbling wooden wall. Another was rushing towards him from the back of the building and before he could even woge, Nick took the risk and pulled his gun to shoot him. Another that was coming turned and ran the other way and he gave chase. He found the other side entrance where they’d come from and rushed up to try and catch him. But a car engine revved and he was too late as he saw an old pick up with a bed cover on the back speeding away fast enough the tires squealed on the wet ground.

He growled and turned to head back in, but something caught his eye. Across the wall was four black lines painted at an angle. They were crude, and jagged, but the reminded him of claw marks and were the only bit of graffiti on the otherwise clean wall. And they were fresh—still glistening and wet. He had a bad feeling but quickly headed back inside because he knew Chavez was hurt.

But it was more than hurt he realized. She was sitting, leaning against some metal barrels in the corner near a couple of bodies. He knelt and opened her jacket enough to see the deep gash mark in her side. He quickly grabbed his phone to call for help but she shook her head weakly. “Don't…”

“No, we need to get you to a hospital,” he said, putting it to his ear.

“You can't be tied to this,” she said, panting softly. Nick knew that look and knew she didn’t have long. There wasn’t any way for an ambulance to get here in time, and there would be too many questions when they did. He closed his eyes but ended the call before it was answered. He then looked at her. “Where's Sloane? And Trubel? Where did you take them?”

She sighed, swallowing the pain as her words wheezed out. “They're coming here... to Portland.”

“Where are they?” he asked more urgently, his voice pleading.

“They're rising... everywhere.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out something and handed it to Nick. He recognized it as Trubel’s black knight chess piece. “It's war,” she gasped. She gurgled slightly then sighed and her head tipped to the side. Nick stared a moment before sighing deeply. _I’m sorry…I didn’t want to actually kill you or have this happen…_ He paused before getting up when he heard a buzzing noise from her pocket. Leaning in, he reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone. It was asking for a thumb print. Knowing this might be his only chance to get answers, he grabbed Chavez’ limp hand and pressed her thumb to it before pressing it to his ear.

“Where are you?” a male voice asked.

Nick hesitated before taking a deep breath. “She's dead.”

“…Who is this?”

“The others were dead when we got here. Who is this?” Nick countered.

“…Keep the phone.” The call ended and Nick looked at it but sighed and put it into his pocket before running out.

\----------------

Nick went back to the others and explained what happened. By the time they got back to the scene though, it had been cleaned up. Chavez, the two men she was bringing him to, and their attackers were all gone as if it had never happened. Even the graffitied mark was gone. They believed him—they knew something was very wrong and he wasn’t making this up. But besides the phone, which was still locked, he was back at square one in finding Trubel and Sloane.

He got a call later that evening that his mother seemed to be doing well—though her eye couldn’t be saved, her brain seemed okay. There was no telling what might happen down the line but for now they were optimistic. But they wanted to hold on to her for a few more days before she was released, and she could go home.

Nick though couldn’t stay in the house. Going there only brought back painful memories and even the good ones were now tainted. One other option came to mind, and that was Sloane’s house—but that didn’t feel right. For one, it needed to be fixed from the fire and he didn’t really want his mother in the middle of renovations when she should be recovering. And for another, like his house, there were some harsh memories involved that were just too fresh. He wanted somewhere safe. Somewhere he could feel like he was both home and protected. While his mother said she was fine with anything, he brought a tablet and described a few places on his visits to see what she thought.

In the next few days though another case arose—Mr. Beau Childs, the CEO of C&E, was found dead in his office as if he’d been mauled by something. Hank was handling the case with Detective Pogue since Nick was still supposed to not be working, but Hank could already tell something was off. Child’s financial officer, Wemlinger, was on scene and had reportedly tried to help—that was his explanation for blood around his front and wrists. He said heard screams and saw two men running from Mr. Child’s office. He’d called the police and Child’s assistant, Betty Frame, who was also on scene.

Hank asked for Nick to come down to confirm if Wemlinger was a wesen like he thought. He was hesitant to leave, but Kelly said it was fine since she was going to be resting anyway. Wu was able to find out Wemlinger was actually (or also) known as Simon Kinkaid and was wanted in California for embezzling almost a million dollars from Bankers Trust in Sacramento 3 years ago. Though it got a little rough in the interrogation room, Nick was able to confirm he was likely a Quijada Vil. Pogue was confused by all this of course, but things were further complicated by two California marshals coming to pick him up for extradition.

“You can't stop them,” Hank sighed.

“I can follow them.”

He looked at Nick, a bit shocked. “All the way to Sacramento?”

“Whatever it takes.” Hank frowned. He wasn’t thrilled Nick was so ready and willing to do that. It felt like it was him ready to just throw caution to the wind because what did he have left to lose?

Renard didn’t like it either, though mainly he didn’t like Nick being there at that moment as he marched over. “What part of "take time off" don't you understand?”

“Sorry, Captain. I had no choice but to bring him in. Marshals picked up our murder suspect for a prior, and he's Wesen. They have no idea what they're dealing with,” Hank explained.

Renard cooled, looking towards where the Marshals were getting Wemlinger together for transport. “What kind?”

“Quijada Vil,” Nick said.

Renard grunted, knowing they had some teeth on them. “Where are they taking him?”

“California.”

“I've got to go after them,” Nick said.

Renard sighed and shook his head. “In my office.” Nick looked frustrated but followed him with Hank. Renard closed the door and sighed again. “You want to lose your job?”

“They're not gonna make it to Sacramento,” Nick said.

“You’re not listening. You've already screwed up with the FBI. You want the marshals on your ass too?” Nick glared and he glared right back. “I’m serious, Nick. I don’t think you realize or appreciate how many strings I pull to make sure you, Hank…Sloane, Wu, Monroe and Rosalee don’t get put on some sort of watchlist!”

Nick twitched and looked away. “We do appreciate that, sir,” Hank sighed. “But after what this guy did to his last victim, I wouldn't want to ride in a car with him. These guys are going to be in real danger if they go.”

Renard messaged between his eyes. “…I appreciate that. But there are some things we can’t prevent if we want to be here to help other people in the future. I don’t like it either, but those are tough calls we have to make.”

“We can’t do nothing,” Nick said.

“I can call the marshals office, tell them there's a death threat on their fugitive. They'll beef up security themselves. You three—” He paused and looked down. “Sorry…two. You two are trying to do the right thing, I know, but it’s not as easy as just mowing over everything else without putting yourselves and others in danger.” He paused and looked up. “Is there any word on Sloane?”

“…No,” Nick said.

“We can’t find her anywhere. And for the record, she really was taken. And Chavez was in on it,” Hank said.

“…Do I want to know how you know this?” he asked, looking at Nick.

“…I did what I had to. But it didn’t turn out well. There’s something else—some kind of other issue I don’t know about. Someone killed two men Chavez wanted me to meet, then her.”

“What?” Renard said, straightening. “You—she’s dead?”

“Yes…But she was going to tell me something important. She knew something about Sloane, and Trubel, I know it. It’s something big.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Hank said. “I know he wouldn’t lie about it. But the scene was cleaned up when we got there. Faster than even your guys can do it. So, Chavez is… “missing” as well now.”

Renard groaned slightly. “Which means the FBI is going to likely come calling. Alright…do you have any other leads on that?”

“…Not really. Chavez died before telling me anything useful.” Hank looked at him, unsure why he didn’t mention the phone, but went with it.

“Okay. I’m going to say, after what’s happened the last few days, that Sloane is…on assignment.”

“Assignment?” Hank asked, Nick also confused.

“We need a cover. We can’t just say she’s missing—it’s going to lead to too many questions of why and have too many people looking into her. That could just cause more problems if they look too deeply into her past. For now, she’s under cover somewhere else. That was the excuse I gave for her coming here in the first place I think…”

Hank and Nick looked at one another but nodded. “Okay…”

“Good. Now go home, and don't come back until you hear from me,” he ordered Nick.

“What?” Nick asked, his voice sharp and clipped.

“You heard me. You need time, not work.”

Nick glared but turned and stalked out. Hank sighed and then looked at Renard. “This job is hard enough. It's even harder when you know what's going on and you can't do a damn thing about it.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Renard said, looking at him with an expression that spoke volumes of what he’d seen over the years and had to let go or find a way “around”. Hank nodded and headed out as well.

When Nick arrived, he was greeted by two FBI agents. He recognized them from the day he’d gone to confront Chavez and felt a tinge of worry. But he schooled his face.

“Agents…what brings you here?”

“Can we come in?” Nick nodded, letting them into the house. The larger man, Rosten he thought his name was, stepped up. “Agent Chavez is missing. Didn't show up for work, hasn't returned calls.”

Nick feigned surprise. “How long has it been?”

“Since last night.”

“The argument you had in her office, what was it about?” the other asked.

“She didn't tell you?”

“Why don't you tell us?” Rosten said, getting a little impatient.

Nick sighed. “I thought she was investigating me.”

“Not sure I follow.”

“The Weston Steward case. He was killed right in this room.” They blinked and glanced around, a little bit of unease creeping into them. “She always thought I was involved. I wasn’t. He tried to kill my captain and he just happened to drop by to get a file from me—he didn’t realize I was at a wedding because he was supposed to come later. I tried to tell her that, but I felt like she was still watching me.”

“We weren't still working that case.”

“Maybe you weren't. She interrogated me at the precinct. Did she tell you that?” Nick asked, folding his arms. The agents looked at one another. “She was investigating my partner, Sloane Larson too. Following her. Interrogating her. Interrogating a friend of ours. Neither of us were happy with that. After someone tried to torch her house, and my mother was hurt in the process, I…lashed out. In my head, it was because of what she was doing. There was a lot I had to deal with in a short amount of time. I found out it was actually because of an old case of Sloane’s and she’s been moved into protection for a while on another case. I was going to apologize to Chavez soon, when I didn’t think I’d get arrested for coming to close…”

They looked at one another. It was plausible, they knew, and Nick hoped they bought it. But Rosten still looked at him suspiciously. “We went by her house today. There were signs of a struggle in her bedroom. Where were you last night?”

“You got to be kiddin' me,” Nick sighed.

“Where were you?”

“At the hospital,” he said impatiently.

“Not feeling well?” he asked snidely.

“As I said, my mother was badly hurt. Someone beat her in the head, and she lost her sight and I’ve been visiting every day. Would you like the doctor's name?” he asked, equally snide.

Rosten looked angry but his partner set a hand on his arm and shook his head. He huffed and headed for the door. As they exited, he looked at Nick. “If you had anything to do with Agent Chavez' disappearance, it's just a matter of time. I’m sorry about your mother.” He closed the door and Nick sighed, rubbing his eyes.

From there things just got more complicated. The Marshals were killed in a gas station bathroom just on the edge of their jurisdiction on the way to California. Hank sent Nick a picture of the same four claw-mark sign left on the bathroom wall in blood, similar to the mark that disappeared at the warehouse. He said that he’s meeting with a forensic accountant going over C&E’s accounts and Nick goes to the meeting with him. The forensic accountant told Nick and Hank that most of the missing money was wired from the corrupted accounts to offshore banks in the Bahamas, the Caymans, and Puerto Rico. He said the transfers came from Wemlinger's computer between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m. every other Tuesday, and every time there was a data transfer a phone call was made to a Portland number. He gave them then number, and Wu traced it back to of all places the victim’s assistant, Betty Frame.

They arrived at apartment 502 on the building at Northwest 19th and readied their guns. Nick paused when he heard something inside. He expanded his hearing and realized it was the sound of electric motors—like several desktop PCs working at once. “I hear something…Electric motors, a lot of them.”

He nodded to Wu, who nodded back and then kicked the door in. “Portland police!”

Wemlinger looked up, startled as he was working on a PC—one of the many set up in a make-shift server room of some sort.

“What was that?” a feminine voice asked. Betty Frame walked into the room and Wemlinger quickly grabbed her around the throat. She shrieked but he held her steady.

“Move, and I'll kill her!” he shouted, woging into his reptilian form. “I'll rip her throat out!” She screamed again, struggling slightly but he held her fast as he pulled her to the bedroom. They kept their guns trained on him, but he had Betty in front as a shield. He kicked the door close as they got in.

“Watch the hall,” Hank ordered Wu. He nodded and rushed back out while they advanced. Nick kicked in the door and Wemlinger all but threw Betty at him.

“Help me! Help me! He made me do it,” she sobbed, going into hysterics. Nick clicked his tongue as she tried to cling to him and Wemlinger got out the window. He gently as he could pushed her aside and followed. “He made me do it. He made me help him!” she sobbed, going to Hank.

“I'll take the stairs!” Hank shouted after Nick as he followed the man onto the fire escape. He then looked at Betty, who looked like a traumatized midwestern housewife.

“He's some kind of animal,” she sobbed, shaking.

Hank sighed but patted her arms. “Stay here.” She nodded, covering her mouth as she tried to get under control.

Hank rushed out and by Wu, shouting as he ran. “He jumped out the window!”

Wu rushed after him. Nick meanwhile was chasing Wemlinger down the fire escape, the man several steps ahead. When he got to the ground he ran for one of the alleys and Nick followed. He saw him jump a wire fence and just as he got there, Nick saw Hank coming from another direction. Wemlinger was crouched behind a dumpster but saw the opportunity of Hank’s open back.

“Behind you!” Nick shouted, getting Hank’s attention. He managed to dodge Wemlinger’s first strike and start duking it out with him rather than immediately shoot. Nick got over the fence and grabbed a pipe, moving to strike him. He dodged and Nick accidently smashed the window of a car in the alley instead. Wemlinger was wily and hard to get a solid hit on, even jumping over Hank using the car at one point and throwing an old wire shelf down over them before trying to run. He threw tires at them to slow them down before climbing a dumpster and using that to jump over the even higher fence at the end of the alley.

The siren wailing was their warning as Wu rolled up. Wemlinger jumped down to the ground and roared at him as he got out. Wu’s gun was drawn and aimed as the Quijada Vil ran for him. “Stop! Stop!” he ordered. Wemlinger wasn’t stopping and Wu gritted his teeth before firing on him just as he climbed to the hood of his car. He did finally stop, looking perplexed a moment before collapsing on the hood like a rag doll. Nick and Hank came over just as he de-woged, dead.

Wu gave a shuddering sigh, his gun stull raised and pointed at the body. “I had no choice…”

Nick and Hank sighed, agreeing even though it was hardly ideal. Nick looked toward the apartments and realized there might still be something they could use though. “Stay here. Call it in.”

Wu nodded and pulled out his phone with one hand as they took off back to the building. The pushed the door open again, to see Betty doing something to the computers. She seemed perfectly calm as she was working. “What are you doing?” Nick asked, watching as she went to the last set.

Hank looked at the command box up top, which had big bold red letters across it. “She's deleting the files!”

Nick’s eyes widened and he moved towards her. “Get away from the computer! Now!”

She stood back but smirked at him, as if she’d won. “Not even a Grimm can stop what's coming.” She then woged into a drang-zorn, her red hair striking against the brown fur and her long sharp teeth bared. “Occultatum Libera!” Before they could stop her, she ran and took a leap, crashing through the glass of the nearest window. Nick and Hank rushed over but being five stories up they knew before seeing the blood staining the concrete she was dead.

\--------------

Hank managed to convince Pogue that Betty killed herself when Wemlinger was killed due to them being partners _and_ lovers. Wu managed to excuse that he’d come across Wemlinger during a patrol and had shot in self-defense. Luckily, the witnesses were few so they could play with the order of events a little and say that he’d gone up to the apartment after Wemlinger tried to attack him and Pogue bought it when he called it in.

Nick had gone back to the shop to avoid being seen and Monroe and Rosalee sat and discussed what happened with him, and Hank and Wu when they arrived.

““Occultatum Libera"?” Monroe asked, making sure he heard right.

“Yeah, that sounds right,” Hank nodded. Now they wanted to know why things had ended the way they did, and their best source of wesen knowledge was their friends. That, and what they could salvage from Sloane’s books. Rosalee had brought them to the shop for safe keeping. Until Sloane returned. “That was the last thing she said.”

He sighed, flipping through the book he was holding. “Loosely translated, it would mean something like "free what's hidden" or "free the hidden."”

“What does that mean?” Rosalee asked, looking just as confused as the rest of them.

“I guess it depends on who's hidden or what's hidden.”

“It's got to be whatever group uses this as its symbol,” Nick said, holding up a print he’d made of the bloody sign from the gas station bathroom.

“Yeah, we're still working on that,” Rosalee sighed as Hank had texted them about it earlier too.

“There have been some funky Wesen symbols over the years. So...” Monroe sighed.

“Horns, hooves, eyeballs, tails, representing everything from death to fertility to war. We got the Reaper's Scythe, the Verrat tattoo...”

“Let's not forget my personal favorite, the wolfsangel, which still gives me nightmares,” Monroe said, shuddering.

Rosalee rubbed over his back softly but sighed. “Unfortunately, nothing so far that looks like that. It might be new.”

Wu chewed on his lip. “What the hell does it mean? …You think Sloane would know?”

They all looked at each other, the question hanging in the air, and not for the first time the pain of someone missing was palpable.

“If she did…It might be in here,” Rosalee said, gesturing at the table of salvaged books. They nodded, grabbing them to start looking through again.

\----------

“What do you mean she’s missing?” Mim asked, her voice low and dangerous. Nick had waited a week, hoping they might figure something out

“…I’m sorry,” Nick said. “I don’t know…where she is. My one lead is dead, and the other is saying “Don’t call us, we’ll call you”, and not calling.”

“She was supposed to be resting!”

“I know!” Nick said. He tried to gentle his tone. “I know…all of us, we were trying to keep her resting, keep her safe…I didn’t think Juliette would…”

“…Jean, take this.”

“Mim—”

“I can’t talk to him right now!” Nick heard a door slam and then a tearful Jean was on the phone.

“Nick…We know it’s not your fault. We do. Part of us always knew there might come a time where she…didn’t come back,” she said. Nick felt his own heart clench. “We just…I’m sorry, I think w-we need some time.”

“…I understand,” he said.

“I know you do,” she sobbed, hanging up. Nick set his phone down and sighed, rubbing over his face. Sloane might not know how much she was missed. She always seemed to forget that. But he’d make sure she knew when they found her.

\-------------------------

**_The Lost Boys_ **

\-------------------------

It was almost a good thing Trubel and Sloane were still missing two weeks later. Nick couldn’t imagine how crazy Sloane would have gone with worry when Rosalee turned up missing. Or when it ended up being a bunch of wesen children that fell through the cracks in the system and were living on their own. Longing for a mother. It was a hard thing for all of them to deal with, knowing they kidnapped a previous woman who ended up dying, and now they would all be put into a juvenile center that was almost like a jail. But he knew, given Trubel’s past, it would be a hard pill to swallow.

In that time, his mother came home with him. Her eyes would have to be covered for another 6 weeks so he carefully guided her home.

“The stairs are in front of you. It’s five steps up, and the door is…I think about five steps in front of you.”

Kelly smiled tiredly, letting him hold onto her arm as she slowly limped up the steps. She was still sore and bruised, but aside from that the rest of her body would heal without any lasting effects. Just her eyes would never be the same. “You don’t have to fuss, really…”

“That’s not going to stop me,” Nick said, trying to smile. It was harder these days, but the fact that his mother was alive and coming home with him at least got a small one out of him. “Now…I’ve put an offer on another place. But it’s a bit lower than what they wanted, and I want to do a quick renovation, but I have to wait and see if it comes through.”

“If you’re telling me not to get comfortable, I rarely do.”

“Well, I tried to make it so you would be comfortable here. Monroe helped me move a bed downstairs for you.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said.

“I felt like I did. So, you wouldn’t have to go up the stairs so much.”

She sighed but followed Nick inside and over to where he’d set up the bed. “So, what’s this new place like?”

“Secure…a little industrial. I’ll show you later—I mean—”

She held up a hand. “It’s okay, I know what you mean…”

“…I was blind for a little while once.”

“What?” she asked, looking towards him.

“There was a Jinnamuru Xunte in town…you know them?”

“Yes…They’re rare in the states though. It got you?” she asked, mildly concerned.

“It did. But Rosalee figured out how to cure me before it was too late. I had to get one of his eyes to do it.”

“Hey, eye for an eye…”

“Yeah. But um…my hearing…that’s when it first started to get I guess superhuman.”

She nodded. “Usually it takes longer for that to happen, a couple of years…”

“I guess I found a cheat code. But it’s kind of helped me figure out my area and all that—hearing things rather than seeing them.”

“You think maybe I can use that to help get around?”

“It helped me,” Nick said. He hesitated and breathed deeply. “I know nothing’s going to make up for losing your eye and maybe the other…but I’m glad you’re alive. If I’d lost you on top of…of everyone else.” He tried to control his breathing.

Kelly reached out, softly making sure she got her arm properly around his shoulders before pulling him close. “I’m here...”

Nick gave a shuddering breath and held her close. It felt especially poignant, knowing how much those kids wanted a mother, that his own was here, alive.

\--------------------------------

“Why haven’t they called?” Adalind said, tapping the table impatiently. “It’s been weeks!”

“Likely they’re bureaucrats of some kind. And they can never do anything quickly,” Henrietta said.

“Well I’d like them to make a decision before she’s in college!”

Henrietta smiled. The scarf was gone and though there was a thin scar left, she was completely healed. “I’m going to make you some tea to calm you down.”

Adalind nodded and went back to trying not to stare at the phone while also keeping it close. A few minutes later it rang, and she grabbed it up. “Hello?”

“Adalind? It’s Susannah.”

“Hey…” she said. She had all her questions suddenly leave her, her nerves taking over.

“I have good news.”

Hope rose up. “You do?”

“Yes. We managed to convince them that you would be the best person to care for Diana.”

Adalind gasped and smiled brightly. “I…thank you…thank you, thank you…” she said, feeling relief wash over her.

“Well, that’s the good news…”

The relief shrank slightly. “There’s bad news?”

“Not bad. You will be able to stay in Portland as well. But you’ll have to deal with a bit of…big brothering. Regular check ins and the like.”

“…Well, that’s not ideal…but it’s manageable.”

“Well, they’re going to be pretty hard to please,” Susannah sighed. “Part of it is going to be monitoring you too. I told them you suppressed your powers and could suppress hers too. They want to go forward with that, and…they might be worried about what you’ll do when yours come back.”

“…I see…I-I’m not planning on going back to the royals or anything like that. I don’t want to do anything to hurt anyone, I just want Diana back.”

“I know, I know. Our backers are just paranoid. We have assurances that Viktor won’t go after her again, but it’s still not ideal.”

“Viktor?”

“…Ah, we didn’t tell you,” she sighed. “Part of the deal when we threw the king from his helicopter. Viktor is in charge now, but we have a tentative agreement with him. He leaves Diana alone and doesn’t overstep, and we let him take the throne without us trying to stop him.”

“…And you’re okay with that?” Adalind asked, unsure.

“I’m…not pleased, but I got my own little revenge. Victor hoped to get what the king used to control the wesen. But we recovered it before his body hit the water.”

“You did? What is it?”

“I…can’t really explain it well. It looks like a ring, but it gives off a strange feeling. But that’s all I can say.” She sighed. “If you didn’t know any of this, I guess you haven’t talked to Sean Renard either?”

“…He’s been a little…distant.”

“I see…and you’re still staying here?” she gestured at Henrietta’s house.

“Yes?”

“…You’ll have to find your own place.”

“I will?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes. I negotiated a little money to get you started, and you’ll get paid for any consultation work, but they want to be sure you can stand on your own two feet so to speak.”

“…So, I need to get a job too,” she sighed.

“More than likely, since I don’t know how often the consultation work will come around…Once you can get your own place, then we’ll be able to coordinate.”

“…Okay. Then I’ll get on that.”

“Alright. Good luck.”

Adalind hanged up and looked pensive as she went over all that information.

“Did you get the news you were hoping for?” Henrietta asked. She walked in and set a mug of tea down in front of her.

“…Yes and no,” she sighed.

“Well…let’s get together a game plan then.” Adalind looked up at her and smiled gratefully for the help.

\-----------------------

**_Maiden Quest_ **

\----------------------

Another month and a half later and Nick closed on the property he was looking for, and also had a quick reno done to create two bedrooms instead of one that had been there before. The house was on the market and already had prospective buyers for a good price, so he wasn’t worried. This meant moving. It wasn’t easy to box everything that had been his and Juliette’s up and let men take it away. But the pain was numbing slightly after nearly two months. Even so, he sold much of the big furniture and other items and bought new ones that didn’t have any memories attached to them. His new home was a bit unconventional, but it was cheap and more secure than a house. It was a loft, built in the remains of an old paint factory. The loft had been built above and the factor below made for a huge garage. One day, maybe, he could fill it with other things that would be useful. Like the trailer when they found it again.

Kelly, meanwhile, was trying to get used to moving around without her eyes. The doctor recommended counting steps between things and she did—usually after hitting them with her foot or hip. It was frustrating to say the least. She’d trained in her youth with blindfolds on to try and hone her senses, but this was different. She couldn’t just take this off. But she refused to give up because she was also trained to fight through pain and hardship. And Nick needed her. She could feel that. He’d lost Juliette, Sloane and Trubel—and while he was trying his best to put on a brave face and not let the hurt show, she knew he was often lost in thoughts of where the girls were and what happened. He often paced while holding the chess piece Trubel used to carry, and the phone Chavez had on her when she died. He vented how frustrating it was that the voice on the phone told him to keep it but hadn’t called.

In truth, Kelly had her suspicions about who was on the other end but hesitated to tell him. She’d heard rumors of organizations—heck, some had asked her to join. But it was dangerous work and she didn’t want to be tied to one group. It made it easier to get out. As a mother, she had wanted to protect Nick from this life. She’d wanted him to have a chance at life. A chance at something safer, something that wouldn’t kill him the way it did her father, her sister, and even her own husband who wasn’t a Grimm in the first place. But the Kessler line was strong still while others were waning. Nick inherited, albeit a bit late in life. And now it was all falling apart.

Then there was Sloane. She was worried about her. She remembered the first time she’d ever laid eyes on the girl. Ten-years-old, sullen and somber, quiet to the point it was unnerving. Dierdre had asked her to watch her, but Kelly had a lot on her plate at the time. Nick was barely 13, she and her husband were having some problems, and there was a lot of wesen activity Rhinebeck, New York where they were living. She’d turned them away and honestly, years later when she saw fifteen-year-old Sloane gut a Jaegerbar, she’d regretted it. She could see in her eyes that Dierdre was raising her as a weapon, not a child. That was maybe part of why she sent Sloane to Nick. It was to check on him, but it was also to try and help her find herself again. Her ending up more like Nick hadn’t been her intention, but it wasn’t a bad thing she realized. Now she’d get a chance to really get to know him again herself.

While he was getting things ready, his mother was okayed to remove the bandages. Nick was there and he flinched when he saw the empty socket. The ophthalmologist examined her remaining eye. “Well…it’s healing. You may get some vision back in it over time as it adjusts to the new lens but I’m afraid it’ll likely never be perfect.”

“I’ve noticed,” she said. Nick noted she couldn’t read beyond the largest letter on the eye chart earlier and had tried not to let it get to him so it wouldn’t get to her.

The doctor wrote something down. “I’m going to have you fitted for a prosthetic. You’ll need it to help keep the shape of your eye socket and keep it clean.”

“…What about an eyepatch?” The doctor arched his brow and she smiled. “I think I’d look pretty cool in one.”

Nick huffed a laugh, easing slightly, and the doctor smiled. “I’m glad you’re taking this well. An eyepatch would be fine too, but I’d still advise wearing a prosthetic under it. Now unfortunately, this will be my last appointment with you all for a while, I’ll be going on vacation next week.”

“But you’re the only Kehrseite doctor here right now,” Nick pointed out, worried.

“Yes, but the other doctors will still treat you fine, don’t worry. You just might have to…lie a bit more.”

Nick sighed but nodded. She set up the appointment for the prosthetic and that was fairly quick and painless. It took about a week to get the prosthetic made and by then the loft was ready and officially his.

He brought his mother and explained the layout—the large garage first floor, the elevator up with a key code, the living room kitchen, staircase to the roof, metal coverings for the windows, the bathroom and the bedrooms. Originally it had been one extra-large bedroom and he’d bisected it into two with two doors so that they both had their privacy. And one extra feature—behind a panel in the wall, there was a secret doo that led down to tunnels below the factory. He’d seen them on the building plans and had intrigued him. He wasn’t sure what was down there, but he figured they must lead somewhere and could be a handy route out of the loft in case of an emergency.

While they were getting settled, a new case came up. Isaac Proctor, son of a prominent defense attorney named Amanda Proctor, ended up dead after he tried to attack one Frankie Adkins. According to Frankie though, it was someone in an “animal costume” that killed Isaac as he was about to kill Frankie.

They spoke with Renard as he knew Amanda and he was aware that the family was Weten Ogen, Lynx like wesen that could trace their bloodlines back ages. Renard brought them to meet with her, and she was less than pleased to meet with a Grimm, let alone one working for Renard. But she gave them the information that Isaac had visited the Troyer family before going to Frankie’s bar to confront him. She has no idea why he did that either. They went to speak with them and met with Daniel Troyer and his daughter, Emily. They were friends of Isaac but said they don’t know why he went to see Frankie and claimed they didn’t know Frankie themselves.

Kelly was getting use to the prosthetic, and the layout of the loft. She could see vague shapes and colors with her other eye, enough to know what certain things were. Her depth perception was shot to hell however, something she found out when she accidently poured coffee over her hand instead of in the mug. Nick had wanted to take her to a doctor, but she convinced him to just bandage her hand and let her learn from the incident.

Despite being a bit protective, Nick had the slight penchant for trouble he always did. And that made him go down into the tunnels accessed by that door a little nerve-wracking. She waited by the entrance, training her ears on the echoes below. She heard some strange metal clanging—and oddly, she could almost envision it in her mind. _A metal door…?_ Nick came up and confirmed there was a metal door at the end of a passageway below. But he couldn’t get it open without tools. And he was filthy—she could tell at a touch and ushered him to go take a shower.

The case with Frankie Adkins at the center continued to get more confusing. Another man, Eli Kemper, ended up dead at Frankie’s house. He was supposed to be a bodyguard but had punched out the other guard and gone to try and kill Frankie. He’d been saved at the last minute once again and when Nick asked if it was the same person in an “animal” costume, he nodded through the sedative he was given. “Oh, yeah. You don't forget something like this. Sharp teeth. Yellow eyes. Pointed ears. A lot of hair with stripes in it.”

Talking to Monroe and Rosalee, they agree that Frankie’s guardian angel is likely a Weten Ogen from that description.

“We think so,” Hank nodded.

“And we met one yesterday, the mother of one of the victims,” Nick said.

“Wait a minute; You're saying that the killer and the victim are both Weten Ogen?” Monroe asked, looking alert and a little excited. He looked at Rosalee who nodded as well.

“You could be dealing with the Maagd Zoektocht,” she said, laughing a little. “Oh, that is an ancient Weten Ogen tradition. I'm talking from the millennium before the millennium.”

“You know how knights would slay dragons to win the princess? It's that.”

“Basically, a maiden quest.”

“Maiden quest? Like, to win the bride?” Hank asked, arching his brow.

“It's a way to facilitate arranged marriages,” she nodded, smiling at how old fashioned it sounded too. “I think three Weten Ogen bachelors, right? Are sent out to complete the quest to prove themselves worthy for the hand of the fair maiden and her dowry.”

“But what's weird here is, the quest doesn't normally end with the participant's death. Not to say that procuring a dragon's tooth didn't have an abnormally high casualty rate, but still,” Monroe said. “Nowadays, it’s usually something tamer like procuring something equally rare but less dangerous. I knew one whose daughter loved orchids and grew them and said the one that got her the rarest orchid would be deemed the winner. Not much point if the bachelors die in the process…”

“Maybe since these Weten Ogen have criminal ties, the stakes have been raised,” Rosalee said, frowning at the thought.

Monroe nodded, jumping on that train of thought. “As in the goal for this quest is... what's his name?...Frankie's head. I mean, they're using axes and swords, right?”

“Bringing in the head of the enemy, that's a pretty standard challenge,” Rosalee nodded.

“So, Isaac and Eli were opponents in this quest…” Nick said, putting the pieces together.

“So, then who's the beautiful maiden?” Monroe queried.

Hank smiled, already knowing the answer. “That would be Troyer's daughter, Emily.”

“Then Troyer must be Weten Ogen, as are all the suitors,” Rosalee said.

“We know Troyer is one.”

“You know what? Find the third competitor, and that's probably your murderer, because they...” He gestured like his arms were swords crossing.

“You should find him quickly, though, because this quest won't end until Frankie's head is delivered,” Rosalee said.

“Yeah, and don't expect Troyer to just, you know, tell you who it is.”

“But he does have to bless the third competitor, who will also have that third golden feather,” Rosalee pointed out.

“Yeah, we're gonna keep an eye on Troyer,” Hank said.

“Thanks, guys, I appreciate it,” Nick nodded, grabbing up the files to head out.

Rosalee sighed as she watched them go and Monroe huffed. “Wow, Weten Ogen…”

She smiled and leaned in to sit on his lap. “Honey, would you slay a dragon for me?” she asked sweetly.

“Oh, my God, a flock of them. Or whatever you call a great gathering of dragons,” he said.

“My knight in shining...”

He held up a finger. “Ah, but I don't do armor. I got a nickel allergy.”

Rosalee burst out laughing and hugged him close.

\---------------

Adalind was looking at houses online, sighing to herself. While she had some money, it wasn’t enough to cover a nice house. And she really didn’t want to rent—if Diana’s powers couldn’t be suppressed, there would be a lot of potential questions and issues if they had to move.

A phone rang—one Susannah had given her—and she answered it. “Hello?”

“Hey. Just updating you—Diana’s doing well.”

“Good,” She sighed.

“But I don’t know how much longer I can stall our superiors…they want to move her to another state, somewhere they think is safer. Have you made any progress?”

She groaned and sighed. “I’m trying, but a lot of my savings were used to get to Europe. And after inquiring, the rest of my mother’s estate is still tied up legally considering how she died. Apparently the insurance company and law firm that held her will are both very suspicious when their client dies under “questionable circumstances.” Henrietta offered to help but I owe her so much already…”

Susannah sighed as well. “I’ll keep trying to stall then, but you need to figure out something soon.”

“I will, I promise…thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Thank Meisner too when you can, he’s fighting for you two as well.”

She smiled. “I will if he ever calls…”

“Isn’t that just like a man. Helps you deliver a baby and then never calls.”

Adalind snorted and laughed a little. “Thanks, I needed that.”

“You’re welcome. I’d better go before they get suspicious. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

Adalind sighed and they hanged up. She tried not to feel panicked at the news and went back to budgeting and looking through listings.

\--------------

From there, regarding the Weten Ogen case, a few things were found out after the fact, but this is how they all fell into place:

Amanda told Frankie it was Daniel Troyer out for his head, wanting to see Daniel dead for the death of her sone. When Frankie broke into Troyer's house to kill him first, he was shocked to see him woge into his Lynx-like Weten Ogen form. Emily however is the one to attack Frankie in her wesen form to stop him, the gun going off and striking Daniel by accident. Nick and Hank arrived in the house just as that happened, and Hank called an ambulance quickly while Emily rushed to her father. Nick helped her try to staunch the bleeding and told her they knew about the Maagd Zoektocht. It ended up she had killed all her suitors because she didn’t want an arranged marriage, she wanted her own life on her own terms. But she hadn’t wanted her father killed. Her father, rather than anger, looked at her proudly despite the pain and told her the quest had always been for her—that she proved herself worthy to take over for him, more worthy than any man. Daniel was to be arrested for soliciting Frankie’s murder, but they couldn’t prove Emily was the one to kill the others. And Frankie was now a mess, sobbing and talking about monsters, so he was going to be next to useless in court more than likely.

When he told the story to his mother over dinner, she smiled. “Hmmm…you’re learning a lot of things we never really did. Are you writing them down?”

“When I have time,” he said. “I don’t know if I can recreate the whole trailer though…or Sloane’s collection for when she comes back.”

 _If_ was not a word he was going to use. It was When. Kelly smiled and patted his shoulder—well, his bicep, then his shoulder. “I’m sure we’ll find the trailer one day. Dierdre can’t keep it hidden forever. And Sloane will appreciate anything we can do.”

Nick smiled and picked a little at his Lo Mein. “…It’s been almost two months…” The frustration grew, familiar now, and he sighed.

“…I know it’s frustrating. I was frustrated for years trying to track down the men that killed your father…” Nick looked at her and was about to ask more about that when they heard a crash from outside. “That sounded like a motorcycle…” Kelly said, turning her head in that direction.

“Stay here,” Nick said, standing. He drew his gun and went to the fire escape outside. He could see it was indeed a motorcycle crashed into the garbage cans by the side of the building. But he didn’t see the driver. Quickly heading down, he looked at the machine. Before he could inspect it further, he heard a wheezing breath behind him and turned, gun raised. Someone was coming back around the corner, maybe looking for a way in. He was ready to fire but eased in shock when he saw who it was.

Trubel limped around the corner, holding onto it as if it were the only thing keeping her standing. She was dressed in black leather motorcycle gear, her jacket particularly thick and reinforced. She had a split lip, a black eye, and a nasty scrap along her cheek. She looked up at him and he managed to gasp out her name.

“Nick…” she said hoarsely, moving towards him. She almost collapsed but he quickly grabbed her and held her up. She sighed, wheezing in a way that scared him, and soon went limp in his arms.

\--------------------

**_Rat King_ **

\---------------------

Kelly could hear the garage door opening before the security system let her know in that annoyingly calm voice that it was opening. A feature Nick added for her, so she’d know where to look. She quickly grabbed her cane and went down the elevator and could hear Nick dragging something in. “Nick?”

“It’s Trubel!” he shouted.

“What kind?” she asked, immediately ready to fight.

“No, I mean it’s Trubel! She’s back, she’s the one that crashed. Sh-she’s hurt, I need to get o her to the hospital.”

Kelly switched gears. “Go, I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, lock up, I’ll let you know what happens.”

She nodded and went back to the elevator to go back up to the loft.

Nick used his siren to get to the hospital as fast as possible and didn’t really think before rushing her into the ER rather than find a Kehrseite doctor. He remembered later they weren’t there anyway. They brought her in and immediately got to work on her. They were obviously confused as they took off her jacket and found a bullet proof vest and other bits of armor but clipped her out of it quickly. Nick gave the excuse she was a police officer involved in undercover work. It was a good thing he did because they found a blade hidden in the strap of the vest. One nurse gave Nick the jacket and he held on to it as he watched them take off the guards on her legs and arms. The doctor asked if he was staying and he said he was, so he promised to update him before closing the curtain.

He sighed and went to sit in the waiting room. It was empty for that time of night thankfully so he could breathe out and try to collect his thoughts. It was a relief first and foremost Trubel was here. And alive. But she was hurt much worse than she would be from just the crash into his garbage cans. And where had she gotten a motorcycle? And body armor?! He looked at the jacket in his arms and weighed it slightly. Something was inside so he started going through the pockets. The first thing he found was two driver’s licenses—one under the name Lauren Cole, and the other was from Italy with the name Giana Novara. Both had Trubel’s picture. A Canadian passport was also inside, and he opened it to see Trubel’s name with the name Rebecca Ryan printed. _This is like when I met Sloane…she had fake IDs. But where did Trubel get these? From the Library? Ours is still closed so it would have to be another one. And if so, why wouldn’t she contact me? Where’s Sloane?_

He put those away quickly and went through the other pockets. In the next he found several wads of cash from three different countries. And more interesting, a phone just like the one Chavez had that he still had at the loft. Right down to the fingerprint scan request when he booted it up.

With no way to open it now he sighed and reached in one more time. This time he pulled out a black handle and with a flick, a blade popped out. Quickly he retracted it and put it away, his nerves now up again as he tried to think what Trubel had been up to.

Kelly meanwhile was pacing a little, counting her steps to make sure she knew where everything was with her limited vision. It was how she was trying to stay calm as she waited for news from Nick. She froze when she heard a buzzing sound. She recognized it immediately as a cellphone vibrating, but her phone was in her pocket, so she knew it wasn’t hers. Nick grabbed his when he heard the crash. She followed the sound to Nick’s room and the bedside table there. _The phone Chavez had…_ Picking it up, she brought it to her good eye to make sure she accepted the call properly—it let her which meant the finger print scan had somehow been remotely deactivated—and then held it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Where’s Burkhardt?” the man on the end asked. He had a faint German accent and Kelly knew it was familiar.

“Who’s asking?”

“Is she with you? I need to know if she’s alive,” he said more urgently.

“I’ll ask again: Who’s asking?” she said, putting that hard edge to her voice.

“…Kelly?”

Kelly straightened, able to place the voice now. “Meisner?” The call disconnected and she looked at it, frowning deeply. _Meisner has something to do with this? Is it the resistance? But this feels off…It must be that other…I need to call Nick._

Nick was looking through the passport at the stamps inside—it seemed like she’d gone to a new place every other week. From Dublin to Malta to Beirut to Tokyo…More places he’d ever been. He paused when he felt his cellphone and looked around before taking it out to answer when he saw it was his mother. “Mom? Is everything okay?”

“Hard to say,” she sighed. “That phone you got from Chavez finally rang. A man called, asking if “she” is okay.”

“Trubel?”

“He didn’t say a name and I wasn’t going to offer it.”

Nick sighed, leaning back. “So, it’s related…”

“Are we surprised?” she asked. He knew he wasn’t surprised, but it raised more questions than it answered. “I recognized the voice as well.”

“You did?” he asked, now surprised.

“Yes. But it’s better not to discuss this over the phone…”

He sighed and then looked up when he saw the doctor coming. “Okay, later then. I gotta go.” He hanged up and stood to meet the doctor, making sure the jacket hid the passport in his hands. “How is she?”

“Stable,” the doctor said, smiling slightly. He gestured at the tablet in his hands. “CAT scan revealed no internal injuries. Probably would have been a lot worse if she hadn't been wearing body armor.” He quirked a brow and Nick smiled wanly. “Now, I'd like to keep her under observation for at least another 24 hours.”

“Well, can I talk to her?” he asked.

The doctor sighed and shook his head. “I just gave her a sedative. She's still in a lot of pain.”

“Just to let her know that I'm here,” Nick pressed.

He nodded slowly and then motioned for him to follow. “Okay. Just for a couple minutes.”

Nick followed him and he opened a door to one of the rooms. Trubel was laying on the bed, now bandaged up. The bruises were still mottled over her face and neck, but she looked better than when he’d first found her. He softly pushed the door behind him, not quite closing it as he walked forward. Trubel cracked her eyes open then looked at him with an expression of relief. “I knew if I could just get to you, it'd be okay…” she said quietly. Nick smiled, going over to squeeze her hand. She took a shuddering breath, wincing in pain. “I'm so sorry I didn't...”

“It's okay,” Nick said quickly, gently. “I'm just glad you're alive.”

She sighed, relieved enough that there were tears at the corner of her eyes. “You have my jacket…That's good.”

He nodded, worry puckering his brow. “Found a few things…but I need to know, where’s Sloane?” he said.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she shook her head slightly. “There's so much to...”

There was a knock at the door before it was pushed open and a nurse walked in with a smile. Nick shared a look with Trubel and squeezed her hand again, trying to act normal. “Just try and get some rest. They're gonna keep you under observation for 24 hours.”

Trubel looked a little panicked at that, looking at the nurse as she walked around to the front of the bed. “I think maybe I can go now. I actually... I feel okay.” She moved to try and sit up and Nick was about to tell her to stop when the nurse rushed over.

He could get a good look now—she was in her forties, with curled blonde hair, wearing blue scrubs an a longer blue medical coat. “No, no, no, no, no, no,” she tutted, easing her back down. “That's not a good idea. You've been given a sedative. We don't even have your name yet. I know you're a police officer, but...”

Trubel looked at Nick who tried to convey _I had to tell them something_ to her with a look. She sighed. “Lauren Cole…”

Nick nodded, looking to the nurse. “I can get you the rest of her information.”

She smiled and nodded. “Good. Well, Miss Cole, you've had a rough night. You need to get some rest.”

“Just try and sleep,” Nick said gently. She looked like she was fighting the sedative at this point but slowly fell asleep as they walked back out.

The nurse lifted a bag that she’d placed by the door and handed it to him as they walked out. “These are her clothes. Do you have her license?”

“I do,” he said, pulling the right one from under the jacket. “Right here.”

“Thanks,” she took it, veering into the office as he followed.

“Oh, and if anything changes, call me,” he said quickly, pulling his card from his pocket. “Here's my card.”

“Of course. I'll make a copy of her license,” she smiled, taking the card.

Nick nodded and when she was done headed back out to the car to head home. When he got there, he noted the motorcycle was still where it crashed near the garbage cans. He parked his car in the garage, then came out and walked it in. He could see it was an expensive, supped up model for sure. Made for speed. But it was also roughed up—from the crash and something else he was sure as it looked like paint transfer from a car was scraped along the side. He backed up and noticed the Oregon license plate and quickly snapped a photo to text to Hank. After calling and asking him to run it, he headed back up to the loft.

Kelly was waiting at the kitchen island and looked up when he walked in. “How is she?”

“She's stable,” he sighed, setting the jacket down on the kitchen counter.

“Could you talk to her?”

“Not much, they sedated her…But she knows I brought her in.” He reached in and grabbed a beer from the fridge to cool down.

Kelly sighed. “I thought she was likely dead, but I’m glad to know she’s not…She was the one that crashed though?”

“Yeah, a motorcycle. I brought it in, but I don’t know if it’s hers. She might have stolen it.” He took another long drink and sighed, frowning. “She was wearing body armor, carrying three false identifications and a lot of cash…This has got to be connected to Chavez.”

“…How did she know to come here?” Kelly asked.

“I don't know.” He looked at her and though he wasn’t in focus she could tell he was curious. “Look, when you called me, you said there was more…”

“…The one who called on Chavez’s phone. I know him.”

Nick’s eyes widened. “How? Who?”

“I'm certain it's Meisner. He's the one who helped me get Adalind and Diana out of Europe. Helped deliver Diana into this world too, brought them to me at the airport where I helped fly them here.”

Nick sighed, rubbing between his eyes. “I am so sorry this happened…”

Kelly frowned. “What?”

“I thought I'd picked someplace safe. And they’re still…”

“Nick, I’m used to danger. Vision loss…I’m adapting. But I’m not scared or angry. Mostly I’m just worried.”

“Well I’m angry!” Nick said. “I mean, what did this guy do to Trubel? What did they do to Sloane? If he helped you, he’s part of the resistance, right?”

“…I’m not sure. The resistance is both official and unofficial. Some do it full time, are willing to give their life, all that. For many, it’s something to do when their needed. There’s an information network that gets ahold of us. Because it often intersects with wesen, and it could get dangerous, I didn’t advertise I was part of it. It’s not like they have membership cards.”

“Not like us,” he said, smirking a little.

“Exactly,” she smiled. “I knew Meisner also worked for another organization. He tried to get me to join, but it was much more official. Like covert agents. Paychecks. They said they handle wesen issues, much the way Chavez explained it to you. I know they wanted a Grimm…”

“So, they took one?” he asked darkly.

“I don’t think Meisner would do that,” she sighed. “He’s doing this because the Royals killed his girlfriend. He told me the story. I don’t know why they took Trubel and Sloane, but I don’t think he’d have forced them into something…”

Nick wasn’t convinced but his phone buzzed, and he took it out to answer it. “Wu?”

“Hey, Hank's with me. I got you on speaker. I ran the plate. Motorcycle is registered to a Lauren Cole, 3618 Northwest 19th Ave, Apartment 505. So far, so normal. Then I pulled Lauren Cole's driver's license. You will never guess who it is…”

“Trubel.”

He could imagine the incredulous look on Wu’s face, but Hank was the one that spoke. “You want to tell us what's going on?”

“I don't know what's going on,” he groaned. “She showed up here pretty beat up. I took her to the hospital.”

“How bad is she?” Hank asked.

“There's no internal bleeding, but they want to keep her under observation for 24 hours.”

“Did she say why she's Lauren Cole?”

“No.”

“Did she say anything about Sloane?” Hank asked.

He sighed. “No…they sedated her before I could ask her anything. I’m going to ask her when she wakes up. I’ll let you all know what I find out.”

“You need anything else?” Wu asked.

“…Check out Lauren Cole's apartment. But do it out of uniform.”

“Copy. By the way, Ms. Cole's motorcycle costs 30 grand,” Wu added. “And that's just the base model.”

Nick’s eyebrows rose. “Given the fake IDs and the amount of cash she had on her, I doubt she's driving the base model. I'll check it out, see if there's anything else I can find.”

“Right. And Nick…Good to know she's still alive. If she is, we gotta think Sloane is too.”

He sighed and nodded. “Yeah.” He hanged up.

“Sounds like they set Trubel up well…but it’s getting complicated.”

“Yeah, it is. I got to take a look at that bike,” Nick said. He headed back down to look it over. The keys were still in the ignition, so he climbed over to sit astride it and turn them. The bike came back alive with a dull roar, vibrating with a lot of power. The headlights came on, illuminating his car and Juliette’s old car he wasn’t sure what to do with. Revving it, he jumped a little at the sound. This was definitely a hard machine. Everything seemed normal on the dash—odometer, fuel gage, etc. But he noticed four nodules right in front of normal readers, like caps with release buttons. Pressing one, it flipped up to show a blue button. He pressed the others and they were the same. He’d never heard of this before. Pressing the second one from the left, there was a whistling noise and then four hard thunks at the same time behind him that made him turn. From the back of the bike, four metal arrows had been fired. Two landed in some of the factories old paint barrels, and the other two went right into the metal siding of the garage. Nick looked at the buttons with wide eyes and quickly covered them back up and turned the bike off, climbing off and backing away like it was a wild animal.

\--------------

Monroe was taking out the trash from the shop before closing. It was time to head home and he yawned, feeling tired. As he threw it into the dumpster, he heard something above and looked up. Nothing stood out at first, but he backed away and then woged, focusing up. He saw something move on the roof of the building. It was big, bulky, and hairy—that was all he could tell in the dim light. But when it tilted its head, its eyes shined with a blue light he saw in predators. He blinked and then woged back and rubbed his eyes, and when he looked back up it was gone without a trace. “…I need to get some sleep,” he sighed, heading back in.

\--------------

In the morning, Nick and Hank went to the hospital to visit Trubel.

“She's stabilized. All her vital signs are good,” the doctor said as he opened the door. Trubel was still sleeping on the bed, looking at peace.

“Shouldn't she be awake by now?” Nick asked.

“I don't know how well she slept last night, but after what she's been through, it's not unusual to sleep for quite a while.” He went over to start examining her and Hank came up next to Nick.

“How's she doing?”

“Well, okay, I guess,” he said, shrugging. He looked at the doctor after he finished taking her pulse. “Will you call me as soon as she wakes up?”

“We will,” he nodded. Hank and Nick headed back out the room.

“Doctor said her vitals were good. I thought she'd be awake by now,” Nick sighed.

“We have any idea where she was before she got to your place?”

“No idea. But you got to see this motorcycle she was riding.”

As he spoke, Hank’s phone rang. “Griffin…Where?...Yeah, he's with me. All right, we'll be there.” He hanged up and sighed. “You’ll have to show me the motorcycle later. We got a case.”

They went out to the country, to a cornfield of all places, to meet up with Wu. Wu let them know as they walked through the path left by something large in the field that he’d tracked down Lauren Cole’s apartment. It was real, her name was on the mailbox despite no mail in the mailbox, and though he went up to it he couldn’t get inside without breaking in. Since they didn’t want to raise suspicion he opted not to do that but did say he had no answer when he knocked.

Their bodies were in the back of a pickup parked in the field, what caused the long path of destruction it seemed. They were Robby Kyle and Chester Avery. And they were in bad shape—cut up, bits of skin missing on their chests, dried blood, cracked bones, the works. The truck belonged to Mr. Kyle. And his phone started ringing as they were looking the bodies over. The picture on the ID was of a very pretty young lady who immediately was irate when they answered the phone, wondering where Robby was. She wasn’t surprised when Nick identified himself as a detective, more resigned. That is till they explained what happened.

They met with Selina Golias at her house, where she lived with Roby for three years. She tearfully explained that he’d gone out the night before despite her trying to get him to stay. It was him, Chester, and another man named Johnny. As she broke into another fit of tears, Nick saw her change into a calico patterned Klaustrike. When she realized he was a Grimm she accused him right away of killing them, but they talked to her calmly and got her to admit that the men went to the dump to harass a group of Reinegen. She’d tried calling Johnny, but he wouldn’t answer, so she got them his address. Hank sent it to Wu to check out.

Wu called them just as they got to dump to let them know Johnny’s trailer and car were trashed. They were having the CSI team go over it, but there was no sign of blood or anyone being killed. At the dump itself them met with a man who was using an angle grinder to try and take a car apart. After a little cajoling, Nick got him to woge into a Reinegen. However, he wasn’t apparently scared of Nick at all. They decided to leave, let him stew for a bit after making it known they knew the klaustreich were killed there and not in a cornfield.

The next stop was the Spice Shop to talk with Monroe and Rosalee. They explained a bit of what was happening and then summed up. “We have two dead Klaustreichs and a third one missing,” Hank said.

“They went to the dump last night to chase some Reinigen,” Nick said.

“Ugh, Reini-bashing,” Rosalee sighed, shaking her head as she brought a few rinsed clean jars over for Monroe to dry.

“Yep, Saturday night at the dump is a popular Klaustreich pastime…” he grimaced, picking up another to wipe down.

“Although I've never heard of the Klaustreichs winding up dead.”

“No, anyone winds up dead, it's the Reinigen,” he nodded.

“Well, the Reinigen we questioned wasn't afraid of anything,” Nick said. “And I don’t think it was a group attack. Can a Reinigen take on three Klaustreichs?”

“And live to tell about it? No way,” Monroe said, shaking his head with a laugh.

“Not unless we're talking about Riesen-ratte,” Rosalee said.

He laughed more. “A rat king? Come on, that's not real.”

“Why not?”

“Are you kidding me? A 20-foot-tall Ratzilla that can't be stopped? I mean, where's a thing like that gonna hide? Somebody would have seen one somewhere.” Hank shuddered, the fear of rats washing through him. Monroe also paused, remembering the figure he’d seen on the roof last night. He was sure he must’ve been just tired. That thing had been big, but not that big.

“There might be something in one of the books,” Rosalee pointed out.

Monroe sighed and set his rag down. “I'm sure there is, but I'm telling you, it's just an old rat's tale.” She rolled his eye as he headed to the shelves where they had what was salvaged from Sloane’s collection and some of their own books.

Nick nodded and folded his arms when he saw the clock on the wall. “The hospital should have called by now…”

“Who's in the hospital? Is your mom okay?” Rosalee asked.

Nick hesitated a moment but sighed. “Trubel came back last night.”

“What?” they both gasped. “She's alive?” Rosalee asked.

“Yeah, but she was in a bad fight. I don't know any more than that. I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet.”

“You don't know where she's been, what she's been doing?” Monroe asked, coming back with a couple of books.

“Where Sloane is?” Rosalee asked, a touch desperately.

“Nothing.” He sighed and pulled out his phone, dialing the hospital while he came over to open the books.

“St. Joe's.

“Hi, this is Detective Burkhardt. I want to check on a patient. T…Lauren Cole.”

Rosalee and Monroe looked at one another, arching their brows and mouthing the name in confusion.

“Transferring...” He waited then sighed when the sweet tone of the nurse he’d met last night came up. “Hello, Detective, this is Nurse Kane. I'm sorry we haven't called yet, but she's not awake.”

“Shouldn't she be awake by now?” he asked, concerned and a little agitated.

“It can take a while when a body's suffered this much trauma. I promise I'll call as soon as she's awake.”

“All right,” he sighed, hanging up.

“Lauren?” Monroe asked.

“It’s…she had a fake ID on her. My mother thinks she might be working with an organization that sometimes works with the resistance. The same one Chavez was a part of.”

“The same one someone had killed?” Rosalee asked, frowning deeply. Monroe was slowly turning through the books with his ear on them.

“Yeah…But again, I haven’t been able to talk to her. Someone called Chavez’s phone last night while I was at the hospital with her. Mom picked and said it sounded like a man she’s worked with for the resistance, Meisner. That he helped get Adalind out of Europe.”

“…Maybe you should talk to Adalind then. She might know something.”

Nick blinked then nodded slowly. “That’s…not a bad idea. I haven’t been able to talk to her much lately. I haven’t really known how to talk to her after losing Diana…and Juliette and Sloane…”

“Well, we got Trubel back at least,” Monroe said. “And I think I did find something. Check it out.” He set the book down. On one page was what looked like several Reinigen in a pile, climbing over one another. The next page was a drawing of a huge rat, taller than three men standing foot to shoulder. Other Reinegen were at its legs and they seemed to be melding into the giant rat, being absorbed into the creature. “"Few mythological beings pose a threat as powerful as the Riesen-ratte, also known as Les Rongeurs Roi, or Rat King." …That's kind of a nice drawing, don't you think?”

Rosalee arched her brow at him. “Yeah, as long as it stays on the page, it's beautiful.”

He chuckled and kept skimming the page. “Okay, here we go. This is maybe why one's never been found before. "According to legend, the Riesen-ratte only forms when the Reinigen are under attack. Fueled by fear, scores of them join together in what is known as the Erklarend."”

“Join together? What does that mean, they hold hands or something?” Rosalee asked.

“No…listen, "These Reinigen have little genetic diversity. In their woged state, they appear to stimulate the growth of cancer-like cells. As these cells cannot differentiate which body is the original vector, they merge into each other, causing the individual to become part of the greater whole."

There was silence for a moment before Nick shook his head. “Anyone understand that?”

“I think it means the whole is worse than the sum of its parts,” Rosalee said, grimacing at the thought. “Also, surprisingly scientific.”

“This is the updated version from 1970,” Monroe said, nodding.

“I don't like rats. I don't care what size they are,” Hank said.

Nick remembered teasing Hank about his fear of rats and smiled but then pulled out his phone again when it started ringing. “Hello?”

“They're here! They've come for Johnny!”

Nick was on his feet at the scream. “Selina? Where are you?”

“They found Johnny hiding at my place! They said they're gonna take him back to the quarry and make him pay for what he did.” Nick could hear a loud bang through the phone, and she screamed. “Oh, God! Help me! Let me go! No!” Nick heard a loud thud.

“Selina!” The line went dead, and he cursed as he ended the call.

“They have Johnny?” Nick asked, having heard it as well.

“Sounds like they have her too.” They nodded, heading for the stairs.

“Well, if you're dealing with the rat king, we're going with you,” Rosalee said, following.

“Uh, we are?” Monroe asked. It was getting dark and he wasn’t keen to go out. She looked at him and he quickly followed. “Oh, no, yeah, we are.”

\-----------------------

The dump was a maze of garbage and old cars and the like. It made them all glad they were up to date on their tetanus shots. But it was also definitely inhabited, Nick could hear movement everywhere. There was more than he thought living among the dunes of scrap metal, that was for sure.

Rosalee found an old fridge that acted as a door to something larger inside one mound. They’d structured it to look like a pile of garbage from the outside but was hollow inside with a path leading down. Following it, it reminded Nick of a mine with how it was bolstered up with more debris. He found a switch—the lever kind that he might see in a mad scientist movie. When he flipped it, strings of lights, salvaged chandeliers and what not all lit up. It was surprising to say the least that they’d wired the place this way. What looked like a throne made from an old chair and other pieces of furniture stitched together was at the back.

They also found Johnny’s body. He’d been mangled like the others. Selina was tied up and gagged in a corner behind a couch. She sobbed as she told them how they’d killed them and were going to kill her when someone ran in and said they were there and the rest of the Reinegen scattered.

Climbing out of the trash castle, they were preparing to get out of there fast when more than twenty people climbed out of the piles themselves. A large bald man at the top told them he would let them go if they left Selina, but Nick knew she’d be dead if they did. Refusing had them all crying out for their blood and they ran around to the king at the other side of a large mound. And before their eyes, with gut churning sounds like flesh and bone melting and melding, they coalesced into a huge, two and a half story rat.

Through his horror, Hank tried to shoot it with the shotgun he brought bit it roared and brushed the shot off, literally. They began running to try and get away, thinking of what to do.

Nick paused when he heard a roar and a shriek from the beast and turned. He couldn’t see over the garbage mound, but something was attacking the Rat King, pulling at its foot from the look at it. “What’s that?” Selina asked, sinking back behind Monroe and Hank.

“I…don’t know,” Nick said. The rat king roared and struggled but ultimately kicked its foot, sending whatever it was flying into a garbage mound with a yelp. It then looked at them and pushed its way through the garbage, it’s mangled leg already healing. “Move!” Nick ordered, pushing them. Nick noticed the powerlines running along the side of the dump when Monroe mentioned a trap. Then a hole in the fence just under them. He pointed to a hole in the fence and they all raced through. The hole led to the shore of the river, with no way around.

Though they felt trapped, Nick still had his plan. He they needed to get the Rat King moving towards them. He pushed Selina to Woge so he could smell her and though her fear made her hesitate, Rosalee’s push got her to do it. The Rat King scented the air and roared, moving towards them. He spurred it on with shouts. It could tell something was off, but he kept going towards them.

“Shoot the power line,” Nick whispered to Hank. Hank hesitated only a second before he raised the shotgun and aimed for the transformer.

“Anytime, Hank,” Rosalee said tensely.

“Little closer…” He waited and then fired when he was sure that it would hit.

The transformer erupted in sparks and there was the sound of electricity in the air as the wires fell away. They hit the Rat King and he roared loudly—loud enough it echoed all around them—jerking and convulsing as he was electrocuted. Then he fell forward with a crash.

They were all quiet a moment, waiting to see if anything happened. “I think it worked,” Hank said. They all breathed out, moving slowly back to the hole in the fence.

“Is it dead?” Rosalee asked.

“It's not moving…” Nick said. He froze when he saw it ripple and then the one rat became twenty people, lying in a smoldering, smoking pile as the rain started to fall.

“Do you think the high voltage could have, like, pulled it back apart?” Monroe asked.

“I did not see that coming,” Nick said, moving to look them over. They could hear faint groans coming from the people and though obviously worse for wear, they were alive. But they stank like burnt rats.

“There…really are no winners here…”

“I think we won,” Hank said, pulling out his phone. He could get reception now that they were out of the underground and called for paramedics. Nick looked back towards the garbage heap and began walking over. “Nick?”

“I want to check what attacked him,” he said. Monroe quickly caught up with him, heading to the heap they heard something crash into. As they did, it shifted and more garbage collapsed before they heard heavy footsteps rushing off in a four-legged gallop. Nick rushed over but it was already gone.

“What was that?” Monroe asked.

“…I don’t know,” he shook his head.

As they made their way back to the cars, Nick’s phone rang again, and he sighed but answered it.

“Trubel's life is in danger. Where did you take her?” was the immediate question.

Nick stopped walking, frowning deeply. “Who is this?”

“There isn't time. I know she came to you.”

“I'm not telling you anything until you tell me who this is,” he snarled.

“Nicky, calm down.”

“Mom?” he asked, confused. “Where…?”

“I’m at the loft. Meisner’s here, with me. I didn't know he was coming, but I trust him.”

Nick eased a bit, but still felt a bit of anger simmering. Meisner was back on the phone. “Listen, you need to tell me where she is. If you won't, you need to go to her. They'll find her.”

Nick exhaled but didn’t bother asking who. He doubted he’d get an answer, so it was better to go get the answer himself. “St. Joe's. I'll meet you there.”

“I've got to get to the hospital. It's Trubel,” he said, running for his car.

“Do you need us?” Hank called.

“No, let me handle this.”

He got in the car, started the siren, and drove for the hospital. On the way he called another number on his phone.

“Nick?” Adalind asked. “You know what time it is?”

“You know a Meisner, right?”

She paused and sat up in bed. “Meisner? Martin Meisner? Yes, he’s…he’s the one that helped get me and Diana away from the royals back in Europe.”

“Do you trust him?”

“…I do. With my life.”

“Okay. He’s in town. He’s working for some organization. And I think he recruited Trubel—she came back last night. She’s hurt.”

“Oh my God,” Adalind said, getting out of bed. “What happened?”

“It’s a lot to explain, but I took her to the hospital—they’ve been acting weird about her though and now Meisner says she’s in danger.”

“Okay…if he says that, she is then.”

“There shouldn’t be doctors there that know about Grimms right now, so I have to agree. I’m going to get her. If I text you an address, can you get there?”

“Me?”

“It’s someplace safe. You healed Sloane before. If Trubel is in bad shape, you can help her survive it better than me and I trust you more than the doctors.”

“…Okay. Send me the address, I’ll meet you there.”

“Thank you,” he sighed. “This is going to be my new home. I’d appreciate keeping it secret.”

“Don’t’ worry, I understand. What about your mother?”

“She’s still there, I’ll let her know you’re coming. She’ll let you in.”

“She’s not coming with you?”

“She hasn’t tried to fight since what happened and I’m…not sure I want her to.”

“If you say so, I think she’d still kick some ass even if she is blind…”

Nick smiled wryly. “You’re likely right, but better safe than sorry. I better focus on the road though; we’ll talk more when I get there.”

“Okay…”

He hanged up and kept speeding for the hospital with lights and siren blazing. When he got there, he rushed back up to the room where she should be but found it was empty. Going to the station, he tried to stay calm but urgent. “Excuse me, where is Lauren Cole?”

“I'm sorry, she's been moved to... intensive care,” the nurse said, looking up her notes.

Nick cursed under his breath and started for the elevators—only to see Dr. Nicholson, Nurse Kane and a male nurse pushing a gurney with Trubel on it into the elevator. He ran over but wasn’t able to catch the elevator. He waited to see which floor it stopped on and rushed for the stairs. He actually vaulted over the side when he was close enough to the bottom—they were heading for a back door of the hospital.

By the time he got to the floor, he could hear fighting up ahead. A large man, blonde with a stubbly beard, was fighting off Dr. Nicholson and the male nurse who were Murciélago and a Hundjager respectively. Nick rushed over to kick the Hundjager away while the man kicked the fire extinguisher Dr. Nicholson tried to use as a weapon out of his hand. He blocked a punch from the Hundjager and punched him across the face, backing up to be back to back with the man.

“Burkhardt,” he greeted. They both ducked as they came for them again and Nick took the Murciélago this time, hitting him in the face and back into a shelf full of tray tables. When he tried to get back Nick brought the shelf down him, then struck him across the face with one of the trays.

Meisner punched the Hundjager, and Nick punched him again as he reeled towards him, sending him down. “Meisner.” He gasped when the Murciélago tried to grab him around the neck and Meisner got around to strike him and pull him off of Nick.

In the confusion, Nurse Kane managed to get around and start running for the elevator, leaving Trubel behind on the bed near the rear entrance they were trying to take her from.

“Get her out. I'll get the other one,” Meisner said, moving to follow Nurse Kane. Nick quickly went over and unhooked Trubel, picking her up and carrying her to the door. He managed to get her to his car and lay her down in back before driving for the loft.

Adalind met him at the door, Kelly right behind her ushering him in quickly. “The bed's ready, this way.”

He carried her through to a rollaway bed he’d gotten just in case someone needed to stay over, set up between the bedroom walls and the bathroom door. Nick set Trubel down and she groaned a little before cracking her eyes open.

“Nick... they're gonna take me…”

“Not anymore,” he said gently. “You're with me. I brought you somewhere safe.”

“I have so much to tell you…” she said, trying to stay awake again.

“Shh. Later.” He gently pushed back her hair and she sighed before closing her eyes again.

“Wait,” Adalind said, taking out a flask. “Henrietta brewed this. She recommended she take it first; it’ll help with pain and speed up healing. Healing by power alone is too tricky and finicky. She said that’s better than just trying to heal her straight away.” Nick nodded, backing up so she could gently tip her head up and press the flask to her lips. Trubel frowned at first but soon began sipping willingly till it was gone. She sighed, looking more at peace. “Is she all right?” she asked, frowning as she looked at all the cuts and bruises.

“Yeah, thanks to your friend…”

“He was there?”

“Yes…Tell me about Meisner. I need to know who he is.”

Adalind sighed but nodded. “Okay…and then I want to talk to you about something.”

\-----------------

Meisner sighed as he got back to the compound. He walked back to the back and one of the other men looked up. “Did you get her back?”

“I got her safe,” he said. “And took care of three hostiles.”

“So, she’s with Burkhardt?” he asked.

“Yes. But I think that’s best. He’s going to need to know what’s going on.”

“How much does he need to know?” the man asked, worried.

“…That’s a hard thing to decide,” he sighed. “On that note, do we have any news on the MIA?”

“No. It’s like she…vanished,” he said. “It might be whatever the other did to her.” He looked back towards the doors.

“You’re scared of her?”

“Honestly, yes. She’s strong. I don’t know if we can fully reprogram her…”

“Well, she can’t stay as she is,” he said. “And I’m not sure what to tell Mr. Burkhardt about the other. I think he’d be rather…”

“Angry?”

“To say the least. For now, get a clean-up crew to the hospital. I got the hostiles out, but it needs to be scrubbed. Rear entrance number 4.”

“On it.”

\---------------

“You’re going to what?” Nick asked, shocked.

“Move into my own place. So that I can get custody of Diana. I’m trying to find a place that will work though.”

“Okay…why didn’t you say this Susannah person was in contact before? And knew Meisner?”

“I didn’t want to wreck my chance! I wasn’t sure they’d like me telling you,” she sighed.

“Fair enough…”

“I just wanted to ask your help if it does happen. To keep Diana safe.”

“Of course,” he said, nodding.

“Great…now I just have to find a place.”

“…How about Sloane’s?”

Nick froze and then looked at his mother. “What?”

“Sloane’s house. It would be a place to start at least.”

Nick frowned and was going to shoot the idea down, but Adalind was already shaking her head. “Oh, no, I couldn’t! I mean, she’ll need that when we find her.”

Nick eased slightly, a little glad she didn’t except it. But Kelly sighed. “I admit, Trubel being alive gives me hope. But if she’s also joined, she might be home much. What I’m suggesting is basically guarding her house—fix it back up, stay there and make sure it’s safe. Having it empty is tempting for more…unscrupulous individuals. And Dierdre. And I know she likely has some things that are hidden there she wouldn’t want people to find.”

Nick frowned, realizing she wasn’t wrong. “Okay…but then what about when she comes back?”

“Well, this would give Adalind time to get a job and save back up. And hopefully, get the resistance off her back for a while and do what she wants.” He looked at him. “I know how hard it is to raise a child with a life that doesn’t let you get much peace. I missed out on a lot and Adalind’s already missed out on things. I’d like to make this easier for her.”

Nick stared back but sighed. “Okay…if we clean it up, get it fixed and make sure her stuff is safe, I…think she’d be okay with it,” he sighed. “But when we find her, we’ll have to work it out again.”

Adalind stared before smiling brightly and hugging first him, then Kelly. “Thank you! Oh my god, this isn’t what I thought would happen, I swear! I just wanted help.”

“You’ll get it…” Kelly said. “I think for now, go home and rest. Trubel’s going to likely be out for a while again, right?”

“Yeah. Okay, thank you,” she said, standing.

“We’ll work out the rest later.”

She nodded, heading for the elevator and down to the street level, still smiling.

“You really sure this is okay?”

“I think a house sitting empty is a sad thing…” she said. “I also think it might be good I live there too for a bit when Diana comes.”

Now he tensed back up. “Mom—”

“I’ll be perfectly safe,” she said. “I’m adapting fine. But Adalind, through my fault in a big way, hasn’t gotten to really be with Diana in over a year. I have. I can help take care of her, even with my sight nearly gone.”

“But you’re all set up here!”

Kelly put a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “I love you, Nick. I’m happy to be here with you at all. But I also know you need to have some time alone. I know…what’s happened took a toll on you and you haven’t really gotten the chance to grieve because you’re trying to take care of me.”

“I don’t need to—”

“Don’t.” He jumped at the sharp order. “Nick, I left right after your father was killed. I couldn’t be there for you. I didn’t grieve for a long time because I told myself I had to be strong. But when it finally hit, I was nearly crippled with the grief of losing him, and in a way losing you…losing me. I nearly ended it…”

His eyes widened, feeling a little sick. “Mom, you…”

“I made it through because I let it out. You gotta keep control of your emotions when on a hunt, but when you’re not you have to let them out. I’m worried you’re starting to bottle them up instead. Like Dierdre.”

Nick flinched and looked down. “…I…”

“You gotta grieve, Nicky. If you don’t, it’s going to eat you up. I might need to do it too, considering my eyes, but I’m trying to stay strong for you…”

“…Okay,” Nick sighed. “Okay, I…I’m sorry, I didn’t…”

“You don’t need to apologize,” she said, hugging him. “Just…you know we’re all here for you. But I think you need a little time to yourself.” Nick didn’t say anything else but sighed and nodded. She patted his back. “Go rest. I’ll keep an eye on Trubel. So, to speak.”

Nick tried to smile but he walked to the room and closed the door. He didn’t really want to grieve. It meant admitting that Juliette was gone. The fact Trubel was here helped and gave him hope that Sloane would be back too. But he’d seen Juliette shot with those arrows. Felt her last breath. She was gone.

And the pain when it first happened had been too hard to let out. It felt like if he did, he would break. Like forcing a ball bearing through glass. The pain had lessened over the last few weeks, but he still was scared he’d break when everyone needed him.

\---------------------

**_Wesen Nacht_ **

\-------------------------

Kelly was staying up, listening to a book through headphones, when she heard Trubel start awake. She took the headphones off and walked over to her. “Trubel?” She looked up, startled. “It’s okay. You’re safe. I’m Kelly, Nick—”

“Nick's mom,” she said, nodding slightly.

“Yes, that’s right.” She walked over and sat down on the bed. “I'm glad you're okay. I mean, we're all very glad. Nick was a little out of his mind when he couldn't find you.”

Trubel nodded slowly, waking up more. “How long have I been here?”

“Nick brought you home from the hospital last night.”

“Last night?”

“That’s right. You’ve been asleep for…” She brought her phone close to her eye, “about 22 hours.”

“Oh…What am I wearing?” she asked, looking down at the long shirt.

“One of my shirts. I changed you, the hospital gown didn’t seem very warm. He brought your clothes back. I washed them; they’re just drying now.”

“…Thanks. Where’s Nick?”

“I’m here,” Nick said. He padded out of his room in bare feet, his pajama pants and a shirt. “You’re awake…good…I’m glad.”

“I’ll let you two talk,” Kelly said, standing and going to fix herself something to drink.

Trubel folded the blanket back and swung her feet out, grunting as she stood. She hissed a little, her hand over her side. “Hey, careful,” Nick said, moving to help her. “You sure you should be up?”

“Don’t want to stay in bed anymore…” she said. He let it slide, guiding her over to his couch.

“How are you feeling?”

“Sore…and really glad to see you.” Nick smiled; the feeling mutual. She then looked like she was trying to remember how she got there. “Was somebody in the hospital wesen?”

“Yeah, I'll tell you about that later,” he said. “Still have some questions myself, but you've got to be hungry.”

“A little, yeah. Well, no…a lot,” she amended, smiling.

Nick smiled back and went to warm up some pizza he had leftover in the fridge, as well as pasta, wings, garlic bread in the freezer and some fresh fruit for at least a little healthy option. Trubel dug in before it was warmed up, ravenous as ever. “The Grimm appetite is strong in her,” Kelly smiled.

“That’s a thing?”

“It is for the women.”

“Good to know…so, Trubel, what…I mean, it’s been months since we saw you.” _Three to be exact…_

“Yeah…” she said, chewing thoughtfully around the pizza before swallowing. “Well…They know, Nick. Ever since Chavez found out you were a Grimm; they’ve been keeping an eye on you. I didn't tell her,” she added quickly.

“I did, it’s fine. How did you find me?”

“Well, they've been keeping track of you 'cause that's where they found me. They didn't know what you knew or didn't know.”

“And this is the group you were telling me about?”

She nodded, swallowing another bite. “They want people like us on their side. People with our abilities.”

“So, you work for them now?”

“I’ve…honestly worked for them for a while,” she said sheepishly.

“Yeah, I saw your passport and some of the dates,” he said, trying not to sound like a disapproving parent.

“Yeah…Well, when I left here and went to take Josh home, they found me there. Or followed me there. Their offer was pretty good.”

“Who are they?” Kelly asked. “Meisner never told me the name.”

“H.W., or Hadrian's Wall, or something…I... That’s what they call themselves.” Nick frowned and she sighed. “All I know is they're a part of the government, but a part so secret that most of the government doesn't even know they exist. I guess they don't trust a lot of people in the government either.”

“Probably smart…” Kelly muttered.

“But they're fighting this underground war.”

“Against who?”

“Wesen. But I mean, like wesen crime. Chavez was part of it, and there’s lots of others. Nobody knows how many there are or how big a group it is, but it's all over, not just in this country. It's everywhere, like a revolution. I had to help. Nick, H.W. needs Grimms on their side, and I'm not the only one fighting for them. I worked with one in Lisbon, and... and I heard about another in Bangkok. And I recommended Jacob, Sloane’s friend. I don’t know if they recruited him yet though.”

“Wait, back up, you went to Lisbon?” Kelly asked.

Trubel nodded. “Twice.”

“…Alosio?”

“You know him?” she asked, surprised.

She laughed softly. “I trained with him. Glad to know he’s still alive. Surprised he joined any kind of group though. He’s been more of a lone wolf type his whole life.”

“I mean, that might be part of it. We meet, help each other, then leave. I never know where I'm going or what I'm supposed to do until I have to do it, but...I mean, there are sections of H.W. all over the world.”

“Do they pay you for this?” Nick asked.

“Actually, yeah, they do. In cash.”

“Nice.” Nick frowned at his mother, but she shrugged.

“…Do you know Meisner?”

She was a little surprised but nodded. “…Yeah, I do. I told him he was gonna have to meet you.”

“Already has.” She looked up, slowing her chewing. “When I was getting you out of the hospital.”

“Meisner was there?” she asked, surprised.

“If he wasn't there, you might not be here.” She looked thoughtful about that, maybe not having expected it. Nick took a deep breath before speaking again. “What did they do with Juliette's body?”

She flinched and looked down. “I don't know…”

“Well, what about Sloane?” he pressed. Trubel’s face screwed up more and Nick felt his heart lurch. “Trubel? What happened to her?”

“I…don’t know…”

“Trubel,” he pressed.

“I really don’t, they wouldn’t let me go with her! They said they were taking her to another facility and then they had me go on another mission. I asked when I got back, and they got really cagey. I…overheard something though.”

“What?”

“…I heard someone say she didn’t make it.”

Nick felt his stomach drop out. “Didn’t…make it?”

“Yeah. That’s all I’ve heard…No one tells me anything when I ask, saying I don’t have the clearance.”

Kelly took a deep breath and looked down. “Dammit…” She looked up when she realized Nick wasn’t moving. “Nick?”

“I…need to go for a bit.” He went to the door.

“Nick?” Trubel asked.

“Just…I need to go!” he quickly pulled on his shoes and headed downstairs. He wasn’t really sure what he was doing, but he climbed into his car and started driving. He probably shouldn’t be, his mind was barely there. Luckily it wasn’t too crowded at night. Eventually he found he’d driven all the way to Sloane’s house.

He sat for a time, staring at it before getting out and going up to the door. He had a spare key—given to him in case he needed something from her collection—and opened the door. It was quiet. Three months with no one entering quiet. He saw the blackened floor from the front of the door all the way to the back room and remembered Juliette dropping the lighter. The fear, betrayal, shock…it was there but it was dull now. Like a film played too many times and close to breaking in the light. He walked further in, looking at the photos on the wall. Souvenirs from travels before they’d met. Souvenirs from the times after they met. He smiled a little when he saw the trophy from the dance competition on a side table, picking it up to dust it off. He should’ve told her he enjoyed it. Should’ve danced with her one more time. Even in her dreams it would’ve been something…

_“I’m serious,” she said, looking at him. “I noticed it dancing with you. You’re leading, but you’re holding too much tension. You’re trying to do it all on your own when I’m right there.”_

He set the trophy down, hands shaking a little bit. He looked up at more of the photos. One of them with Monroe and Rosalee at their wedding stood out, Sloane smiling brightly with her arm around Rosalee. It was hard to believe how awful that day was in some respects, though it had its good moments.

_“…Nick…” She set the rug against the wall, making sure it wouldn’t get anything even dirtier. “I…I get why Juliette is upset. But I’m going to be honest, I’m not happy with her.”_

_Nick frowned. “With her? Sloane, she—”_

_“Has a right to be upset, I’m not arguing that,” She said, holding up her hand. “At Adalind. You…are a victim in this. I don’t like that she’s holding it against you. Someone tricked you into sex, that’s…that’s unforgivable, but it’s not on you.”_

Moving down the hall, he followed the burnt path to the back of the house. The room was still trashed—they hadn’t had anyone in to clean. The desk in the corner was charred and a little splintered, but he ran his hand over the top of it. Opening a drawer, well forcing it open due to a bit of water damage, he was surprised to see a little notebook sitting among the pens and paperclips, still whole. He picked it up and flipped through, smiling when he saw the crude little map on one page. The road, trees and square with a cross in it to show a church. This was the notebook she carried when they first met. Back when she tried so hard to be a heartless Grimm.

_"Kelly and…Wait, Kelly and Marie Kessler?” The woman’s jaw dropped with her eyes wide in shock, the first truly noticeable emotion she’d shown. “You’re Nicky?!” she asked, her voice cracking._

_Nick was just as thrown off. “What? I…Only my mother calls me that…”_

_She groaned, running a hand through her hair as she took in a deep breath, looking close to a minor breakdown. “Nicholas Burkhardt…Ugh, her husband’s name was Burkhardt. You’re Kelly Kessler’s son, oh my God…”_

He laughed a little. She’d come so far since then. He set the notebook back and closed the drawer again before walking back out. He went into Sloane’s bedroom. He sat down on the bed, thinking about all the times they spent together. All their cases. All the dinners with friends. Games. Talks. Nights spent reading and making notes. And he realized that there would never be any new ones. These memories were what he had. It was the same with Juliette, but he’d held onto his hope that Sloane was alive and would come back. But she didn’t make it.

Nick felt the tears coming to his eyes. She was gone. This house was nothing but a monument to her now. He’d never hear her talk again. Watch her fight. Hear her laugh. Dance with her. Hold her…

 _“I love you, Nick. I really do._ ”

He felt his heart screw up and he leaned down, crying in earnest now. The grief was flowing out of him, like his mother said to do. It was grief for a friend, but it felt harder too. Like he was mourning something that had never even been. _Dammit…why now…?_

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that but eventually he stood and headed back for the door. As he did, a shadow crossed in front of the French doors out to the back patio and he paused. Going over, he opened the door and looked out. “…Hello?”

There was no answer. But he got the feeling he was being watched. Moving further out—the yard was also in bad shape, grass overgrown, the little garden she’d been starting was beginning to look like a jungle, he saw someone at the back. “Who’s there?”

The foot falls were hard and sounded like an animal as they moved swiftly around the side. Nick followed, wishing he’d brought a weapon. He saw the huge shape in the corner near the fence facing the street. When he moved towards it, he gasped when it suddenly vaulted over the high fence. Nick rushed over and out the gate, but it was gone. _…Mom may have a point. Someone living here is less of a temptation for robbers and the like._ Deciding to call it a night, he made sure the house was locked up and made a note to call Bud tomorrow about getting the house fixed up. He heard another sound of something moving as he headed to his car and turned around again. Still nothing. Figuring he was tired, and grief stricken, he climbed in his car and headed back home. He had no idea a dark shape followed him from the shadows.

\----------------------

Trubel looked up when Nick walked in. “Hey…are you okay?”

“…No. But…”

“Yeah…” she nodded. “I-I know. I kind of threw myself into working when I heard that. Didn’t really want to think about it…I…honestly still don’t, but if you need to…”

He took a breath and walked over sit down. “…Why did they take you that night?”

She hesitated but sighed. “Because they knew I was with you. It all happened so fast. I... I wanted to tell you, but they wouldn't let me, and then I got sent away.”

“To do what?”

“What Grimms do.”

He nodded, pursing his lips. “How long have they been watching me?”

“Ever since I killed Weston Steward, and Chavez found your Grimm book on the bed. They’ve been watching Adalind too. Since she was working with the royals and I guess because she’s a hexenbiest.”

“…Was. She took a suppressant. Still working, last I checked.”

“Oh…” she said, surprised.

“…Tell me about that motorcycle.”

She smiled a bit. “It's mine.”

“You want to show me?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Sure.” She stood and followed him down to the garage. She was walking a little easier, the potion having helped he thought. When they got there she walked over, smiling and going over it. “So, they gave it to me, like, six months after I started. It's not normal. It does all kinds of things.”

“Like what?”

“Okay. You lift this,” she said, opening the buttons.

“I already did that.” He flushed a bit and pointed at the arrows in the wall.

“Oh…well, I got more. This leaves an oil slick. This blows out smoke big time, but you breathe it, and it knocks you down. Over here is your Internet connection. Your satellite tracking system.” He watched one of the dials turn into a computer screen, showing it triangulating their location. “I mean, it can find any phone number any time anywhere. It's how I found you.” Nick nodded, impressed. When he looked at her though he saw tears were in her eyes. She huffed out a watery laugh. “God, why do I always do this with you? I'm...I just thought I'd never see you again. After I lost…Sloane and…”

He knew what she meant without saying it. “Yeah…I was thinking the same thing,” he nodded.

She sniffed and then leaned in, giving him a hug. He was surprised but returned it readily enough. She sniffled again and then grunted as she pulled back, favoring her side. “Oh, God. Still hurts a little bit,” she chuckled.

He smiled, sighing. Then his phone began ringing and he pulled it out to see Hank’s name on screen. “It's Hank.”

“Oh. Tell him I said hi,” she said.

He answered the call with a “Hey.”

“We got a big one,” Hank said immediately.

“How big?”

“Don't know. Lot of places hit.”

“All right, where am I meeting you?”

“Where the body is: North Denver and Kilpatrick. How's Trubel?”

“She's awake. She says hi. I'll tell you more about it when I get here.” He hanged up and realized he’d have to tell Hank what Trubel told him. And Monroe and Rosalee as well. He had to keep pushing though, he had to keep fighting. That’s what he had right now. “You okay here?”

Trubel nodded. “Yeah. I’ll tell Kelly you’re heading out. She’s pretty cool by the way.”

Nick smiled a bit and nodded in agreement.

\-----------------

Downtown was a mess. Shops were broken into but rather than a robbery it seemed to just want to cause as much damage as possible. It happened in three neighborhoods at the same time, multiple shops in each. And one man, Ken Honeycutt of the local flower shop, was dead. Mauled. There was nothing to point to gang related activity, but Wu found one clue in the wrecked bakery: the four-line claw mark drawn in blood red spray paint on a back wall.

They began the investigation and stayed up well into the morning as they tried to find any clues. The witnesses described people wearing all black causing damage and doing the assaults. Which didn’t sound like any gang they knew. But attacks also happened in Eugene and Seattle—this was a massive planned exercise. It gave him a bad feeling, especially combined with the four mark.

“Now, Trubel told me that Chavez's group is fighting some kind of…wesen uprising,” Nick explained quietly to Hank and Wu.

“Wesen uprising? That doesn't sound good,” Wu said, trying to keep a straight and unpanicked face.

Nick nodded and pulled out his phone as it started ringing. “Check with the other business owners. See if they know anything about the marks on the wall.” He saw the name and immediately answered. “Rosalee?”

“Nick, I hate to bother you, but do you know anything about all this vandalism last night?”

He sighed, knowing they must’ve seen it on the news. “No, we're just starting the investigation now. Why? You know anything?”

“Yeah, we know some of the people that were hit,” Monroe said. “We know the guy who's missing, and Bud—”

“And I know the guy that was killed!”

“Bud?” Nick asked, surprised.

“Yeah, I'm here. I'm ready if you need me. Don't know what you might need me for, but I'm there,” he said, his usual nervous self.

“…I actually might need you for something.”

“Oh, God, really?” he groaned.

“Yeah, but not with this.”

“Oh…okay, that’s good-fine, that’s fine.”

“Nick, all the victims we know were wesen,” Rosalee said.

“Ken was one of the nicest Eisbibers you'd ever want to know,” Bud agreed, back on topic. “I... I went to high school with his brother.”

Nick sighed, having figured that was likely. “We found another one of those marks on the wall inside Xavier's bakery.”

“Oh, God,” Monroe groaned.

“Marks? Marks? What marks? This... this isn't a wolfsangel thing again is it?”

“Bud, shh,” they both said.

“Where are you?” Nick asked.

“We're at—”

“I'm at Monroe and Rosalee's house.”

“We're on our way.” He nodded to Hank and they quickly rushed out.

When they got to their house they ran down what they knew for the three of them quickly, laying out the pictures.

“This is unbelievable, a thing like this happening in Portland…” Rosalee said, frowning at the pictures.

“Well, not just here. Half a dozen cities were hit. Including Seattle and Eugene,” Hank said.

She sighed, shaking her head. “Why would they kidnap Xavier? He wouldn't hurt a fly.”

“Well, he actually would hurt a fly. I mean, he's a Hasenfussige Schnecke. They think of flies as a kind of delicacy, but point taken,” Monroe said. Rosalee smiled in fond impatience and rolled her eyes.

“It's not a woge you forget,” Bud nodded. “God knows you want to.”

Nick picked up one photo and set it down on top of the others, pointing to the graffiti. “Look, every time we've seen this mark, it's involved a wesen.”

Bud nodded, following along. “And... and two of the people who were attacked we know are wesen.”

“Judging by the way Ken the florist was killed, these gang guys could be wesen too,” Hank said, pointing to a picture of the man with his throat ripped out.

But grimaced, both in disgust and anger. “Oh, my God! Look what those bastards did to Ken!”

Nick nodded and sighed. “So, why are wesen attacking wesen?”

“And why are they all wearing black shirts?” Monroe asked, following his line of thought.

“A coordinated effort, that's for sure,” Hank nodded.

“Occultatum libera,” Monroe said snidely.

Bud blinked. “Occul... what?”

“It means "free the hidden."”

“Who's hidden?”

“The wesen that are using that mark,” Nick said. “A kind of warning.”

“…Kind of looks like a claw mark, I think. Wait…is this like Cruor House?”

Both Monroe and Rosalee froze and looked at one another. “Oh God…he’s right.”

“Cruor House?” Nick asked.

“Why didn’t we think of it,” Rosalee said.

“What is it?” Hank asked impatiently.

“I-It’s like our Manson Family, or Jones Town,” Bud said. “But it happened way before, like back in the 1800s. There was this guy, he was a super-rich, um…”

“No one’s sure what he was,” Monroe said. “Just that he was rich, charming and powerful. He made everyone call him Midas. You know, golden touch. But he had this idea that Wesen shouldn’t be hidden. That we’re the dominant lifeform and should there for be top of the food chain. Like super survival of the fittest.”

“It’s not a new thought. There’s always been people that think like that,” Rosalee sighed.

“Yeah, but Midas took things too far. He collected like a huge amount of followers and moved to this mansion estate in the English countryside. They called it Cruor House—basically, Bloody Manor. Where they started doing a lot of _Eyes Wide Shut_ masquerade stuff.” Hank’s eyebrows rose. “Yeah. But then they also started hunting. Deer and stuff first, then they went after livestock. Didn’t care who saw them.”

“Then they started hunting the witnesses,” Rosalee said.

“It’s thought this was a big inspiration for _Hound of the Baskervilles,_ ” Monroe added.

“Then a farmer killed one of them and they…started killing everyone they could find. They tried to take over the town. Did a lot of…awful, despicable things to the townsfolk,” she shuddered. “The description makes even those wesen with the penchant for violence sick.”

“Yeah. Then one day, they were all found dead. Most think it was a Grimm, some think the old council from then did something…it’s one of our kind of unsolved mysteries thing. But the council did sweep it under the rug,” Bud said.

Nick and Hank looked at one another, worried now. “You think this could be another version of this?”

“It’s possible,” Rosalee sighed. “But we don’t know who’s in charge or why they’re doing things like this.”

“You know, I’ve got some books at the shop that go over this sort of thing,” Monroe said.

“We’ll meet you there.”

They all loaded up, heading to the shop and down to the basement where Monroe was pulling out a leather-bound book he put with Sloane’s books. “So, being honest, a lot of street violence is not happenstance. I mean, some of it is, of course, but just so you know...a good amount of street riots are instigated by wesen. It's not something we're proud of, and certainly not something the history books will tell you, but there it is. Here's a good example.” He said, flipping to a page and setting it down. “Réveillon riots. Paris, 1789.”

“That's a good one,” Bud nodded.

“Everyone thinks this started because one factory was unionized, and the others weren't. But actually, it was wesen factory owners going up against this guy, Réveillon, who was not wesen.”

“Réveillon was Kehrseite, and they looked down on him,” Rosalee said.

“And here's the crazy irony, though. A lot of his workers were wesen, and they were loyal to him because he, you know, treated them well.”

“Kinda like you, Nick,” Bud said. Nick tried to smile, but it was also a little worrying given the situation.

“The wesen who worked for Réveillon were targeted and killed in these riots,” Rosalee sighed.

Monroe nodded and he pointed to a picture showing men in 17th century French clothes fighting one another—many of the woged into various wesen unlike most historical tableaus. “Right, so on the surface, looked like a union problem, but the truth is, it was also a wesen problem.”

“Similar to what happened last night,” Hank said.

“Right, and this isn't the only example. I mean, the boxer rebellion, draft riots during the civil war. I mean, the freaking Boston tea party.”

“All started by wesen?” Nick asked.

“Well, instigated often with Kehrseite going along as well. When something’s wrong, most of us don’t want to sit back and do nothing and we’re all kind of hot-blooded...”

“But it’s no wonder history seems to repeat itself. Nobody really knows the history. Still true today,” she sighed.

“And bottom line, don't rile us up,” Bud added. Monroe quirked a brow and he smiled sheepishly. “Well, most of us.”

“So, last night was wesen on wesen,” Hank surmised.

“Feels like some of us are…being made an example of,” Monroe sighed.

“Now, your friend who was kidnapped, was he involved in any groups?” Nick asked.

“I doubt it. That bakery was his life,” Rosalee said, shaking her head.

“That's the weird thing. Xavier was all about the bread,” Monroe agreed.

“That's Ken exactly. He doesn't like groups. He never did,” Bud said.

Nick sighed when his phone rang and pulled it out. “Wu, I'm putting you on speaker. You got anything?”

“Yep, I got something. Xavier,” he said.

“He's alive?” Rosalee asked in surprise.

“He's pretty beat up, but he managed to get away. We got him under guard at the hospital. He's had the crap scared out of him.”

“Which hospital?” Nick asked.

“St. Joe's.”

“All right, meet us there.” He hanged up and nodded to Hank. “Bring the mug shots.”

“Xavier's alive…” Monroe breathed out, relieved.

“He was luckier than Ken…Oh, wait, hey, Nick!” Nick paused on the stairs. “You said you needed me for something?”

Nick paused, looking at the others, before sighing. “I…wasn’t sure how to bring this up or say it…” He admitted. “Bud, I’d like you to go fix up Sloane’s house. Get it back in order. Get whatever you need, whatever friends you need. You’ll all get paid well.”

“Oh? Okay, yeah, that’s no problem,” he said.

“Wait, is Sloane coming back?” Rosalee said, walking around to him. She looked up at him so hopefully it made him a little sick. “Did Trubel tell you where she is?”

“…No. This is for Adalind.”

“Adalind?” Monroe asked, all of them looking confused.

“Yeah. Apparently, the group Chavez was working for got Diana back. And killed the king.”

“What?!” Bud said. “They killed…holy…wow…Why didn’t we hear about that?”

“It’s not something they’d broadcast widely,” Nick said. “Probably their searching for his remains…”

“But they got Diana? That’s…good. Great,” Monroe nodded. “Why does she need Sloane’s house though?”

“They’re willing to bring Diana here, back to Adalind. But they want her to have a job and a house and prove she can support herself again and keep her out of trouble. My mom suggested Sloane’s house till she can afford another.”

“Okay, making sense…”

“But Nick, what about Sloane?” Rosalee pressed.

“…She didn’t make it.”

They all froze, unsure if they heard right. “What?” Hank asked.

“Trubel…Trubel said she didn’t make it,” Nick said, trying to control his voice.

“No, that can’t…she has to be alive…” Rosalee said.

“It was that same night. Trubel said they were transporting her somewhere for medical attention, but she didn’t make it through the trip.”

“No…Oh God,” Rosalee sobbed. “No…”

Monroe put his arms around her, blinking.

“That can’t…I didn’t think she’d be…” Bud said.

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” Hank asked, looking hurt.

“Because I don’t want to admit it either!” Nick said a little harshly. He shuddered and rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry, I just…she told me last night and I still haven’t…”

“I don’t believe it,” Rosalee said.

“Honey-”

“No! She is not dead! I don’t believe it!” she quickly headed back upstairs, crying.

“Rosalee—” Nick started, but she was already through the door. Monroe gave him a look that said he’d go to her and followed. He sighed and looked at Hank and Bud. “…I wanted to wait till this case was over. We still…need to do this.”

Hank nodded numbly, heading up the stairs while Bud sat down to think.

\----------------------

Nick tried to push those feelings back down where he’d managed to shove them before. It was harder, but he needed to focus. People were dying and Sloane wouldn’t want him being distracted from stopping them. Wu met them at the hospital they went up to talk to Xavier about what happened. He said he didn’t remember much, they had him blindfolded a lot of the time. But he knew they took him to a warehouse. He said when the guy watching him fell asleep he found a brick and struck him he didn’t know how many times before making a run for it. Nick showed him a picture of the claw mark on the wall of the bakery and asked if he knew what it was, but Xavier said he doesn't recognize it. He then asked if he thinks he could identify some of his captors. Xavier’s already pale self grew even paler and said if he did, they would kill him!

When Nick said he knew he’d been targeted because he’s wesen, Xavier looked at him with confused fear and then woged. And Nick…had trouble keeping eye contact. He’d seen many wesen that were arguably terrifying or unattractive to the human eye, but this was something else. His skin turned gooey, jiggly, slimy and sallow. It was thin enough Nick could see all the thin blood vessels running through like lines on a road map. His eyes were a milky black, like coal rolled through lard. A long bulbous structure that was like a nose but didn’t seem to have any function hung between them, down to a lipless mouth that fell open in a pant to show needle sharp teeth. And weirdly, he recognized it from one of the nature shows Juliette used to watch regularly. _A blobfish? A freakin’ blobfish wesen, are you serious?_ He thought.

Xavier thankfully changed back quickly and said he’d heard of Nick, though he still looked wary. Nick Told him they could protect him and that they just wanted him to look at some photographs. He hesitantly agreed. Wu set a book of mugshots gently in his lap. He didn’t recognize anyone on the first two pages, so he turned it and Wu thought for a sec he looked spooked. But he couldn’t tell what and Xavier shook his head. Wu turned the page again and he looked them over before focusing on one. He hesitated, saying he couldn’t be sure, but pointed to a picture of a woman with a long blond ponytail. Wu took out the picture and looked at the back with them. _Billie Trump…_ Nick said to track her down and Wu went to do so while Xavier kept looking through the book.

He then knew it was time to update Renard. While he was less than pleased to learn Nick had essentially kidnapped Chavez, and less so to learn of the trap that killed her, he sighed and said he just hoped the FBI didn’t find out what he did. Nick then told him the last thing Chavez said before she died was, "They're coming to Portland. It's war." That troubled him more. Renard okayed them to bring Billie in and put her in a lineup, so long as Xavier could identify her.

By that evening Billie was picked up at a bar and though angry and belligerent she was brought in and put into a lineup. Xavier was deemed well enough to be released and come to the precinct, but he was too scared to positively identify her. Nick, Hank, and Renard trying to encourage him to not be scared. Xavier still hesitated and refused to do it. Talking outside the room, Renard reminded them without a positive identification they’d have to let her go. Nick was certain she'd disappear, and she’d already asked for a lawyer. And he was sure that Billie was the right one given Xavier’s reactions. He was just scared. Nick had to smile a little at Renard’s order to “unscare” him then.”

He called the shop, hoping to get Monroe and Rosalee’s help. He was surprised to hear her more frantic than sad still and relieved to hear from him. Apparently many wesen shop owners, and other citizens, had flocked to the shop to discuss what was happening and were beginning to panic as theories and fear swirled around into a storm of hysteria. Nick asked if she could come down and calm Xavier before they lose their only suspect in custody and she readily agreed. Hank brought them in as Nick tried to talk to him again and they gave them the room. Hank then brings Monroe and Rosalee into the room, and Nick leaves with Hank. Monroe explained Nick was their friend, that he’d known him from the start of his Grimm career and he’s a good guy. Nick smiled a little at that.

“Wasn’t there another one? I heard there were a couple of Grimms…” Xavier said, looking around as if another would rise up out of the shadows.

Rosalee took a breath, swallowing. “She…isn’t here right now. But Nick’s doing everything he can to help us.”

Monroe nodded, holding her hand under the table. “These guys are going to just keep hurting innocent people unless we can figure out who they are.”

Xavier hesitated and says that they want them to pick out someone who kidnapped him. Rosalee pointed to Billie's mugshot and asked if this was her. He was close to tears as he said he couldn’t tell them, or they’d kill him. Monroe then told Xavier that Ken was killed. That shocked him. He said that they couldn’t let them get away with this. Rosalee assured him Nick would protect him, but Xavier was skeptical about a Grimm protecting Wesen. They tell him honestly that they have, many times. After a little more convincing, Xavier finally agreed to identify Billie.

Nick and Hank got Billie into an interrogation room right after he pointed her out. Her lawyer wasn’t there and given the time frame and who they were dealing with he knew he couldn’t wait for a public defender. They told her she was looking at a minimum of 20 years, and when the other charges stick, she would be going away for a very long time. Unless she made a deal there and now. Nick knew she likely wasn’t the big boss, so he wanted the name of who was calling the shots. It was deal now or lose it if they had to walk away. She was still resistant. He sighed and told her he knew she was wesen and her friends were wesen. She assumed both of them were too and sneered when she thought he was playing a sort of wesen loyalty card. That it wouldn’t work since their cops. Hank just calmly pointed out he’s a cop, Nick is a Grimm.

That threw her and she woged into Skalengeck. She threatens to start screaming if he tries to kill her. Nick just gave her a hard look and said if he was going to kill her, he wouldn't do it there in the interrogation room. That seemed to make her settle slightly. Hank told her all they need is a name. Billie hesitantly asked what would happen to her, and he said likely probation and Witness Protection. After a bit of thought she finally told them a man named Dallas Cruz was organizing them.

They had Billy call Dallas to try and trace him, but Dallas didn’t stay on the phone long. They did hear him tell Billie to meet him at the factory before he hanged up. Nick gave Billie a pad of paper and a pen and ordered her to draw it. When she asked why he said they’ll be following her. She said they couldn’t make her; even said to Renard’s face they couldn’t make her. He affirmed they could and woged, shocking both her and Wu. Knowing she was on the losing side; Billie drew the building and tossed the pad of paper by Nick. Nick asked a few questions about the layout, having her mark where the entrances and exits were situated. Renard asked where they meet and she marked that too, as well as describing the window and doors and where to park that Dallas wont’ see.

Rosalee meanwhile was looking over the book and found Dallas’s mugshot on that second page. She frowned deeply and revealed she knew Dallas from her time in Seattle. She knew he enjoyed hurting people and had hoped honestly he’d died before now. Monroe knew her old life was on her mind lately too, after receiving a couple of letters from an old “friend” dredging up the past. But he said he wanted to go help with things at the factory. Rosalee looked ready to argue, but Monroe reminded her that if they’re targeting Wesen store owners it was a matter of time before they were on the list, probably higher since they were helping Nick. She sighed but volunteered to take Xavier home since he was pretty shook up.

When they arrived at the factory, Billie pointed out Dallas’s truck. She knew he would kill her if he saw her, but they promised to stop him. The gang—Nick, Hank, Wu, Monroe and Renard—walked up to the factor and despite her claim, Nick noticed how at ease she seemed. He stopped her to ask why she was so calm, and she feigned ignorance just as Monroe’s phone loudly rang. He apologized, telling them it's Rosalee and he has to answer in case something is wrong.

“Are you okay?”

“Monroe, it's a trap!” she yelled desperately. Nick’s head whipped around, able to hear her.

“What?” Monroe asked, taken aback.

“Xavier set you up!”

He looked at them, mind catching up quickly and whispered. “It's a trap!”

Billie took off running immediately, yelling. “They know!”

Nick was about to follow to grab her when dozens of people, many large burly men, flooded out of the building towards them. Several were armed with pipes, wrenches or other makeshift weapons. They were coming from a building behind them as well, cutting off a route back to the car.

They were all looking around for options when Renard yelled out, “Inside, come on!” Pulling Wu with him towards the door they weren’t coming out of. The others followed quickly inside. They could hear the mob running towards them, but Hank slammed the door and with Nick’s help managed to roll an old wood and metal shelf in front of it to buy them some time.

“Monroe! Oh, my God, what's happening?”

“I don't know,” he yelled back into the phone as they wove through some old machinery inside the factory. “There's a lot of them.” He yelled when one surprised him, making him drop his phone. Rosalee cried out, frantic, but he fought the man off. Soon enough they were all being swarmed though. They were doing their best to punch and kick them away, but it wasn’t an ideal place to have a knock-down, drag out brawl. Then Nick saw an office with metal grating over the windows, the door open.

“This way!” he started for it, only for one man to swing down from some pipes above and kick him down. He grunted but rolled out of the way before he could stomp on him and got up, upper cutting him and slamming him into the wall and punching him again before running to the door. “Get in!” The others made a mad dash for the door, Wu and Renard drawing their guns. Wu shot what looked like some kind of dog wesen in the chest before rushing in and locking the door behind them.

“Well, we sure walked into this one!” Hank said, drawing and readying his own gun. They were pounding on the doors and windows, snarling and growling and making all other manner of noises as they tried to get in.

“I thought you said Xavier was your friend!” Nick said, looking at Monroe.

“He was!”

“Well, they got to him,” Renard sighed.

“And now they're getting to us,” Wu added dryly. Nick wasn’t sure how he could quip in this situation.

Another canine-like wesen dropped down from the ceiling then and snarled, going for him before Nick shot him. “Keep your eyes up!”

“We got just as many problems down here!” Hank pointed out as they kept slamming against the door. It was starting to loosen at the top and they knew it was just a matter of time before the black shirts got in.

“We need to conserve ammunition,” Nick said, aiming his gun at the door.

“I'll take the first guy through the door,” Hank said.

“Second,” Wu said.

Another particularly hard bang had them all tensing. “I'll take whoever you guys miss…” Monroe said, unsure how many he could put down in a small area like this.

Then they heard the first yelp of pain. And another. “No!” Someone cried as they began gagging and screaming and there was thud after thud as they hit the ground. They looked at one another confused and concerned.

“What the hell's going on?” Renard murmured, looking every direction he heard a new scream.

Then it was quiet. The quiet lasted a long handful of seconds before Nick took a breath and moved. “I'm going out.”

“No, it could be another trap to get us to open that door!” Wu yelled.

“I got this. Bolt the door behind me,” he ordered, opening it and moving through before they could stop him.

“Nick!” Hank yelled. He was already moving. The first dead body he saw was a few feet away. Blood was pouring from the back of his head. Then it looked like they tried to scatter but were taken down—all from the back of the head. As if their brains had just exploded outwards. He swallowed and kept moving. He heard a groan and saw one man with a knife in his abdomen, holding the handle and looking terrified. But it almost seemed like it wasn’t death that scared him.

Nick heard footsteps and turned in time to see Dallas rushing him. He hit Nick hard enough to make him lose his grip on his gun, but Nick quickly punched him. He punched back and then slammed him into the metal wall. Nick struck again but he roared and flipped him. Nick landed between two steel beams on the floor with the wind knocked out of him. Dallas grabbed a pipe and walked over, planting his foot on Nick’s chest. He didn’t gloat or say anything, just raised it with the intention to either stab or bludgeon him, he wasn’t sure.

Then suddenly he was flying. Nick’s eyes widened as Dallas was raised almost to the ceiling with a yell, flailing, like a bug caught in a web. Then just as suddenly he began plummeting. Nick managed to get out of the way as he belly-flopped onto the concrete floor with a crack.

Nick stood, panting and looking around to try and figure out what just happened. Then his eyes caught something in the shadows. A bob of short, platinum blonde hair. His heart both jumped and stopped. “Sloane…Sloane?!”

The others ran up and then looked where he was looking, also shocked. But Nick realized something wasn’t right as they stepped forward. The figure was shorter, lither than Sloane, and the hair was straight where hers was wavy and curly. Then they stepped into the sliver of light coming through the nearby window and again, his heart stopped.

“…Juliette?”

She said nothing. She was wearing black clothes similar to Trubel’s, and the white wig threw him off. But she turned and to leave. Nick ran after her and the others followed.

“Oh, my God!”

“That looked like...”

“Can't be!”

Nick rushed out the door and looked around, but there was no sign of her anywhere. “That was her…That was Juliette.”

“How? You told us she was dead!” Renard said.

“Her and Sloane!” Hank said.

“Sloane’s dead?!” Wu asked, both Renard and him shocked.

He shook his head. “Her hair was different, the way she moved was different, but it was her; I know it was her.”

“But she died in your arms, Nick, you said,” Monroe said, not quite believing despite seeing it.

“She did…she did,” he said, reeling.

“So, whoever took her body brought her back to life?” Wu said, not sure what to believe.

Nick sighed, getting his thoughts together. “I know it doesn't make any sense, and I can't explain it, but I know what I saw! And she looked right at me. She saw me too!”

“It looked just like her,” Hank agreed.

“Well, whoever it was, she just saved our lives,” Monroe pointed out. “And if she’s alive…maybe Sloane is too. Maybe they still have her.”

Nick’s face hardened and he turned, walking back towards the cars. “Where’re you going?” Hank yelled.

“To talk to Trubel! She was there that night! She has to know what's going on!” He took off running and they all took a few moments to ease back.

“Juliette's alive?” Monroe said, confused.

“We all saw the same thing,” Wu said. “What’s this about Sloane though—she went from missing to dead?”

“Nick said Trubel told him that,” Hank sighed. “But she didn’t tell him Juliette was alive so now who knows?

“We need to fingerprint the bodies and then let's get the hell out of here. We do not want to be tied to this,” Renard sighed.

Hanks’ phone was ringing, and he pulled it out of his jacket. “It's Rosalee.” He answered and put it on speaker. “Hey, Rosalee.”

“Where's Monroe? Are you okay?” she asked immediately. “He's not answering his phone!”

“I'm right here, honey,” Monroe said gently, taking the phone from Hank when he offered it. “I'm sorry. I dropped my phone. We're all okay.”

“Oh, my god. Thank god,” she sighed, breathing deeply in relief. “Oh, my god. I was worried sick!”

“Are you all right?” Monroe asked.

“Yes, yes. I'm still with Xavier. What do you want me to do with him?” she asked, venom in her voice.

“Where are you?” Renard asked.

“In my car. He's sitting right next to me. I gave him a few new bruises when I realized what he did.”

“Don't let him out of your sight. We need to talk to him.”

“Yeah, I definitely need to talk to him,” Monroe said.

“Where?” she asked.

Hank looked at Renard. “Precinct?”

“No. It's not gonna be that kind of questioning.”

“Take him to the spice shop,” Monroe said.

“We're on our way.”

“And if he tries anything...”

“Don't worry. He won't. I learned a lot from Sloane.”

\-----------------------

When Nick walked into the room, Trubel must’ve heard him coming because she’d gotten her switchblade and rolled out of bed. She relaxed when she saw it was him, but the expression on his face made her pause. “What's wrong?”

“I just saw Juliette,” he said, trying to keep his cool.

Trubel’s eyes widened. “What?”

Nick’s angered flared. “She's alive, and you know it!” he yelled, zeroing in on her.

“No! Nick, I...”

“Tell me the truth!”

“I swear to god,” she yelled back. “I have no idea what happened to her!”

“But you knew she was alive,” He accused.

“No!” She hesitated then looked away. “I mean…not for sure.”

Nick’s hands screwed up, but he quickly paced away. “She's either dead, or she isn't!”

Trubel took a breath. “All I know is that she was alive when Chavez took her, but...I didn't know if she was gonna survive what they were gonna do to her.”

Nick froze and looked back at her. “And what was that?”

“…Break her.”

“What are you talking about?” he said, his confusion cooling the anger slightly.

“Juliette's alive?”

Nick looked up to see his mother at her door. She didn’t have her eyepatch on and instead just her white prosthetic showing through on her right side.

Nick sighed, regretting waking her up, but nodded. “Yes, I just saw her.”

“…What did they do to her?” she asked, looking towards Trubel.

Trubel sighed as well, picking at one of her cuts. “Chavez knew that Juliette was a Hexenbiest and wanted to use her…”

“For what?”

“A weapon,” she admitted. “That's why they took her.”

Nick felt his gut twist. “Where did they take her?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t. I saw them loading her, and loading Sloane, into two different vans. I heard them say they both still had pulses, but Juliette’s was faint. I tried to get to them—mainly to Sloane honestly—but they pulled me away and drove off. That was the last time I saw either of them. They sent me on assignment that night. It wasn't till I got to Bangkok that I heard rumors about them trying to turn a Hexenbiest into a warrior, but nobody told me if it worked.”

“Well, it worked. She just took out over 20 Wesen who tried to kill me,” Nick huffed.

“By herself?” Kelly asked.

“Yes.”

“Where is she now?”

Nick looked a Trubel who shook her head. “I don’t know!”

“Well, somebody does!”

“Meisner might,” Kelly said quickly. “If he knew where Trubel was, he probably knows where Juliette is. And likely, what really happened to Sloane. Because no offense Trubel, but even if that is what you heard I’m not sure if that’s what’s true.”

Trubel nodded, choking up a little. “She’s right. And honestly, I want to be wrong. You don’t know how much I want to be wrong and Sloane is okay somewhere.”

Nick nodded. “How can I get to Meisner?”

“…Chavez's phone,” Trubel said.

Nick went to his bedroom and grabbed the phone. After Meisner called that time it had somehow been changed to open with his thumbprint, so he opened it and dialed the only number inside.

“Nick. I had a feeling you’d call,” he sighed.

“I want to see Juliette.”

“I don't think that's a good idea…”

“I don't give a damn!” He barked. “Where is she? And furthermore, where is Sloane?!”

“…The woman you knew as Juliette doesn't exist anymore.”

“I want to talk to them!”

“It's not that easy.”

“You should've told me she was alive,” he hissed. “And I swear if you don’t tell me where Sloane is…”

“…Give me a little time,” he sighed. Then cut the call. Nick was tempted to throw the phone but managed to keep hold of it.

“What'd he say?” Kelly asked.

“He said he needed time.”

“That's it?” Trubel asked, looking annoyed as well.

“And that Juliette doesn't exist anymore…”

“…Next time let me talk to him. I know how to threaten a man.”

Nick didn’t smile at his mother’s joke, partly because he was still on edge and partly because he wasn’t sure she was joking.

Nick called Hank to update him on what Meisner told him and found out that Billie Trump had apparently gotten away. They were planning to go check her house and Nick said he would meet them there. He made Trubel stay as she was still recovering. And he knew that Juliette either followed them, or new they were heading into a trap which worried him.

Billie’s house was obviously a base for a lot of the members of this group. There were hammocks, sleeping bags, trundle beds all throughout the large farmhouse. It reminded Nick a lot of his dorm in college to be honest with how messy it was. The cache of explosives he found didn’t though and he immediately had them call in to bomb squad to move them safely. They knew Billie likely wouldn’t return but they did find a picture of her and her parents. A surprisingly normal picture, happy picture of her graduating with her parents beaming on either side, a note written on the front saying they were proud of her. Wu commented he wondered if they knew what she was up to.

When he got back, Trubel was eating a grilled cheese for a midnight snack and straightened when he walked in. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice even. “Everything all right?”

“Yeah…Kelly's asleep.”

“Thanks for staying up,” he said, still a little clipped as he took off his jacket.

“…If you want me to leave, I can find someplace else to stay,” she said.

Nick paused and then sighed, opening the fridge and grabbing a beer. “You're not going anywhere. Look, I don't blame you for what happened to Juliette. If you weren't at my house that night, I'd be dead.” He knew that. Juliette was serious about killing him. And he knew if she’d be absolutely certain, Trubel would’ve told Nick everything. He wasn’t angry at her so much as the whole situation.

She still looked down guiltily though. “Nick, I should've said something…”

He sighed again, opening the beer and taking a swig before shaking his head. “I just can't believe this is happening. She was dead. I saw her die. Felt it. I saw her…do something awful to Sloane, I don’t even know what, so maybe she was already gone. But then she actually died. And now what? What, she saved my life?” He sounded as lost as he felt.

She nodded, looking sympathetic. “This has got to be really weird for you.”

“I want some answers.”

“Join the club…” she said. “You think I’m happy they never told me what they did? Now I wonder if Sloane really is dead and what they’re doing to her!”

“You’re part of them though?”

She huffed. “I’m still new. It’s been less than a year. I’m an asset, so they say, but I’m not a big player. I wanted to stay out of that, just go and do jobs, not deal with politics in the office. Now I’m realizing I should’ve asked more questions. Sloane would’ve,” she said.

He sighed, nodding a little. His phone rang and he pulled it out. “Monroe?”

“Rosalee just called the Wesen Council,” he said.

“The group is called Black Claw,” Rosalee said.

“And the Council knows about them.”

“Well, what are they gonna do about it?” Nick asked.

“We don't know. Alexander is gonna get back to us. And, Nick, Monroe told me about Juliette. You really think it was her?”

“I know it was her.”

“Oh, my god, this is insane,” she sighed. “But that means Sloane is alive too, right?”

“…It’s a possibility.”

“Just a possibility?”

“Trubel doesn’t know for sure. I’m going to try and get it out of the group she’s with one way or another. And if she is, I’m getting her back.”

“We’ll help. Whatever you need,” Monroe said.

“Right now, we all need rest,” he sighed. “Let me know when you hear back from the Council.”

“We will.”

They hanged up and Nick looked at Trubel. “You ever hear of Black Claw?”

Her eyebrows ticked up and she nodded. “Oh, hell yeah. My last two major jobs had to do with them.”

“Here?” he asked, going around to sit at the bar with her.

She shook her head. “No, Lisbon and Bangkok.”

“But they're here now.”

She shrugged a little, wincing just slightly. “I mean, from what I know, they're everywhere.”

“What else do you know about them?”

She sighed, thinking. “They're Wesen, all kinds. Not afraid of dying for whatever it is they believe in.”

“Which is?”

“Ruling the world? I mean, they’re goal right now seems to just be getting as many wesen as they can on their side, by any means necessary. And scaring the crap out of non-wesen, when they’re not outright killing them.”

“That's why Chavez wanted you?” he asked, thinking on how interested she was in Grimms.

“I think so.”

He nodded, sighing a little before patting her shoulder. “All right, get some sleep.”

“What? Nick—”

“You need to finish healing and we’ve got more to do tomorrow I’m sure. We need to get our rest while we can.”

“…Okay,” she sighed, standing.

Nick grabbed her plate and her glass to put in the sink and she walked to the rollaway bed to lay down. He went towards his room and paused before going to his mother’s door. “You catch all that?”

His mother opened the door slightly. “Yes. I also think we need to get Adalind and Diana to a safe place sooner rather than later. We don’t know if Juliette will still want to hurt her.”

“…Right. I asked Bud—our Eisbieber friend—to start fixing up Sloane’s house. We’ll get her stuff put away; I can store it here. And…it would be good for you to stay with her to be safe.”

She nodded. “Alright. Goodnight, Nicky.”

“Night mom,” he said, heading for his room and his bed. He hoped things would make more sense in the morning.

\--------------------------

Trubel left early in the morning. She knew Nick would likely see her on his security system, but she hoped he would understand. She got on her cycle and drove till the morning light to the main facility outside of Portland. There was a hidden side entrance that she coasted around the corner to, and into the tunnel hidden in the hill. Meisner was standing, waiting for her as she pulled to a stop inside.

“You shouldn't have come here.”

Trubel pulled off her helmet and threw it to the side, glaring at him and advancing with steps that meant she was ready to fight. “Why didn't you tell me she was alive?!”

“You can't be here,” he said calmly.

She glared and moved to past him, but he caught her. She glared and tried to push through him. “Where is she?!”

“I'll contact Burkhardt when the time is right!” he said, pushing her back.

She growled and swung her arm. “That's not good enough!”

Meisner blocked that and her other blows. “You're still hurt. Don't make it worse!”

She snarled and tried to kick him. It was frustrating he kept blocking and deflecting her feet and hands, not even fighting back. She tried to really hurt him, and he frowned and finally grabbed her arm, twisting it hard enough to make her shout. But she glared up at him. “What did you do to her?”

“What we had to!” He pushed her away again and she glared at him like she was still going to fight. He finally sighed. “She was out of control. You know she was. In order to keep her from continuing to try and kill you and your friends, we had to put her in someone’s control.”

“Yours?”

“The organizations,” he sighed. “It wasn’t easy. But it was necessary. The alternative was to let her die.”

“She’s not a pet or a weapon!”

“…No. But she was much worse than that. She was a force of nature ready to devastate anything that got in her way. She was going to kill Burkhardt. Your friends. But as powerful as she is, and what we know about some of what we’re going to face, she provided us a bit of hope. There was no way she was going to willingly work with us. And there was no way we would be able to let her be out there to do as she pleased with that power.” She eased but was still glaring and he sighed. “I can sit here and make excuses all evening. In the end, it wasn’t my decision. But I will use what I can to keep people safe. And that includes assets like you and her. As heartless as that is, and as sorry as I am sometimes, it’s what I have to do.”

“…What about Sloane? What happened to her? Are you brainwashing her into a weapon too?”

“…Let’s go for a walk and I’ll tell you what I know. What I’ll tell Burkhardt tomorrow.”

\---------------

“Juliette’s alive?!” Adalind yelped. Nick and Kelly had invited her over to discuss what was going to happen moving forward and while she’d been relieved about the house, the news about Juliette was more than a little terrifying.

“Yes. But she saved my life, so…I don’t know what’s going on with her.”

“You…think maybe she’s not, like, power mad anymore?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed.

“…You know…are you still okay helping me?” He looked at her, confused. “This is all my fault. You and Juliette would still be together if it wasn’t for me…”

Nick took a deep breath. He’d thought about that too before, certainly, but he could see how genuine Adalind was at the moment. “…I had a chance for a normal life with Juliette, and you gave that to me when you stopped me from being a Grimm.”

She blinked then looked a bit sheepish. “That wasn't exactly my intention at the time…”

“I know. But still, we had a chance, and we didn't take it.”

“…I wish I could take it all back...Everything I did to you,” she said honestly.

Nick eyed her and took a deep breath before nodding. “I believe you,” he said.

“…Do you think you’ll try again with her?”

He sighed, also having thought about that a lot. “Truthfully, I don’t know how long Juliette was feeling…like she wasn’t part of my world. That’s on me in a lot of ways. Maybe if I’d been upfront from the start things would’ve turned out differently. Or maybe they’d have ended up the same, who can say. But at this point…even if I she’s herself again, I don’t know if I can ever…feel that way about her. Not after what she’s done. I still care about the old Juliette, and I want to…I don’t know, give her a chance at some kind of life. But not with me.”

She nodded a bit. “I understand…I guess…I hope you find someone someday then.”

“You too…think you’ll ever give it a shot with Renard again?” he asked, a little teasing and a little curious.

“Ah…I don’t know,” she said, grimacing a bit. “I mean, I still care about him too, but…our history is honestly almost more convoluted than yours and Juliette’s.”

“…From what I know, I’d say about equal.”

She laughed a little and then sighed. “Yeah…and you’re okay with Kelly coming to stay with me?”

“I…am glad she’s alive. I got time I can spend with her; she’ll be in the same city. But she wants to help you and I think…it’d be good for her. She’s kind of going stir crazy here without anything to do since I won’t let her come with me.”

“I heard that but you’re not wrong,” Kelly called, having given them some privacy.

Nick smiled a little and looked at Adalind again. “The eyes won’t slow her down, I’m pretty sure.”

“Oh, I’m sure they won’t,” she said, smiling. They both paused when they heard the garage door going and she tensed. “Who is it?”

Nick went over to check the monitor quickly and then sighed in relief. “It's Trubel.” He went over to help open the elevator when she arrived, still holding her helmet. “Where have you been?”

“You sound like a big brother, Nick, easy,” Kelly said, coming out. Nick pouted at her but felt he was a bit justified at this point sounding like a big brother to her.

“I saw Meisner,” Trubel said.

Nick was on alert again. “What did he say?”

“You're gonna see Juliette today. He'll contact you later. It'll be a public place.” His heart ratcheted up, but he nodded.

“Are you sure that's a good idea?” Adalind said.

“I have to deal with this,” Nick sighed.

“He’s right, he does,” Kelly nodded.

“I know but call me a little paranoid that the woman that tried to kill him and me is still out there and he wants to spend time with her…”

“You’re not paranoid. But Meisner wouldn’t be agreeing to this if he thought it would end up with him dead. Because he knows I would kill him.”

“Fair enough…” Adalind nodded.

Nick sighed and then heard his phone ringing. Picking it up, he saw it was his partner. “Hank.”

“We found Billie Trump's parents,” he said. “They live in West Linn.”

Nick grunted. “Oh, we should pay them a visit.”

“That's what I was thinking. Any word on Juliette?”

“I'm supposed to meet her today.”

“You talk to her?” he asked, surprised.

“Not yet. I'll explain when I get in.” He hanged up and looked at Trubel, but she raised her arms before he could say anything.

“Yeah, I'm staying here. I'm tired, and I'm hungry.” She went to the fridge and he arched his brow at her.

“It’s like you when you were a teenager,” Kelly said a touch wistfully. Adalind chuckled a little.

“I wasn’t that bad…” he muttered.

“You ate everything in sight for a while. Speaking which, finish your breakfast before you go.”

“Yes, mom…”

“Yeah, that tone doesn’t work when she’s actually your mom,” Adalind said.

\---------------

Billie’s parents were a bust. Or more accurately, they were more proud than worried for their daughter being a domestic terrorist. Nick made a note of that for later—they might be part of this, or they might need to be taken down a peg from their wealthy upper-middle class lifestyle. When they went to update Renard, Wu rushed in saying that there had been an attack in the jail cells, where they’d placed Xavier after interrogating him at the spice shop last night. It was supposed to be a safe place for him.

When they got to the cells the jailer was screaming, his gun drawn and pointed at a coyotl that was repeatedly clawing at Xavier and bashing his head into the bars by pulling on his shirt. He had a shirt around his neck, tied to a beam above and Nick had a sneaking suspicion he’d played Xavier to get close enough to kill him by faking a suicide. The guard screamed about a monster and Nick and Hank tried to push his gun away, but it fired, striking the coyotl in the chest and sending him sprawling. Renard went in, his own gun drawn, and watch the man woge back. He looked the guns shot, gripping it with one hand. But it was only to get enough blood he could turn around and smear four marks on the wall with his fingers before dying. The guard was a blubbering mess on the floor. And Nick could see Xavier was dead, having been pulled repeatedly and strongly into the bars of the cell.

Renard marched angrily back to his office while barking orders at others work to get things sorted. “This was not a random act. This was hit,” he said more quietly. “They knew Xavier was in Custody.”

“How?” Wu asked.

“They must have somebody on the inside. Like with the group after Monroe and Rosalee,” Hank said.

“Don’t remind me,” Wu said, remembering Jessie Acker woging and talking about killing his friends.

“All right, from now on, we have to assume we've been compromised,” Renard said. “Anything to do with Black Claw, we deal with outside this precinct.”

They nodded and Nick pulled out his phone as it rang. “It's Monroe.” He answered, moving away a little. “Yeah?”

“You need to get down to the spice shop, like, as soon as you can,” Monroe said.

“What's the problem?”

“It's Black Claw, but we can't talk about this on the phone,” Rosalee said, sounding agitated.

“…Okay. We’ll be there soon.” He hanged up and looked at the others. “Rosalee has some kind of news about Black Claw.”

Renard sighed. “You two go. I need to clean up the mess here, one way or another. Wu, I’m going to need your help, there’s no one else I trust more right now.”

Wu smiled a bit. “Well, when you put it that way…”

Nick and Hank headed to the shop as fast as they could, opening the door for them and then immediately locking it. “Rosalee just heard back from Alexander. It's bad,” he said, not waiting for any pleasantries.

“How bad?” Hank asked.

She braced herself to say it. “The Wesen Council doesn't exist anymore.”

Both their eyes widened. “What?” Nick asked.

“They were all killed last night by Black Claw.”

“All except for Alexander,” Monroe said. “That's how we found out. Somehow he got out.”

“You don’t think he was in on it?”

“Never,” she shook her head. “That man considered the council his life, and I’m pretty sure he felt like Augustus De Groot was like a father to him…”

“De Groot was killed,” Monroe sighed. “He sounded really scared and shook up about it. They were meeting to discuss Black Claw.”

“The Council knew about Black Claw?” Hank asked quickly.

“Yeah, except they call it Schwarzkralle.”

“Means the same thing, they just like the German phonetic over there,” Monroe sighed.

“Well, where's Alexander now?” Hank asked.

“On the run,” Rosalee sighed.

“When word gets out the Wesen Council's been wiped out, I don't even know what's gonna happen,” Monroe said.

“I think Xavier knows a lot more than he's telling us,” she added, a bit of anger still there for the man that almost got them killed.

Hank and Nick looked at each other, then back at them. “Xavier's dead,” Nick said.

Both of their jaws dropped. “What?”

“We put him in a cell before we could Get him into protective custody. Somebody got to him,” Hank said.

“He was killed by a Coyotl who woged in front of the jailer,” Nick said.

Monroe shook his head as if to make sure it was on right. “Like, intentionally woged? Like he didn't care if anybody saw him or not?”

“Yeah,” Hank said.

“Oh, God. These nuts are woging in public? That means we've crossed a very dangerous line…” she said, shaking her head.

“Cruor House all over again…” Monroe said.

Nick felt his phone buzz and took it out. It was a text from an unknown number:

_Meet her. Alone._

_Prosecco’s Restaurant._

_Thirty Minutes._

_Don’t be late._

His heart lurched and he swallowed. “I need to go.”

“Now?” Monroe asked incredulously.

“I just got a text. I'm meeting Juliette,” he said, putting his phone away.

“What?” Rosalee asked.

“When?” Hank asked.

“Right now.” He turned to head to the door, but Hank got in front of him.

“Oh, we got to back you up!”

“No, no, no, I have to go alone,” he said. “They'll know if I don't.” 

“Hold on. You trust this? After yesterday?” Monroe asked.

“Nick, what if it's a setup?” Rosalee agreed.

“Then I'll handle it,” he said impatiently, trying to get around Hank who didn’t budge.

“Nick, wait a minute,” Monroe said. “You don't know what you're dealing with here. This woman is not exactly in the most stable place right now. She just killed a whole bunch of people, albeit to save our lives, but...You know what? Maybe there is no albeit!” he said, his voice climbing. “Maybe saving our lives had nothing to do with it, you know? Who knows why she killed them?”

“Well, that's what I need to figure out,” he said, trying to stay calm.

“Nick, why?” he asked desperately.

“Because she might know where Sloane is!” he said. The others paused and looked at one another, then back at him. “I need to know if I can save her…and then one way or another, I need to bury Juliette, once and for all.”

They hesitated but Hank finally sighed and moved out the way. Nick left quickly before they could stop him.

“So not cool,” Monroe sighed.

“No,” Hank agreed.

“I feel what he said. I want to know too. But this just doesn't feel right,” Rosalee sighed.

The sun had finally set when Nick got to the restaurant. Prosecco’s was a nice, upscale wine and dine sort of place that he’d meant to take Juliette too before. He’d thought about proposing there. But it was crowded and didn’t seem like the place she’d try to kill him, so that was encouraging. Getting inside, he felt a little under dressed but no one hassled him. He scanned the crowd of people in cocktail dresses and suits till he spotted a white head sitting at a back table. And Juliette’s face stared back at him. Taking a breath, he walked through the crowd towards her. He could feel his emotions rising as he did—anger, remorse, pain, disbelief—and he stared at her a little when he got to her. She stared back, her face a complete blank.

“I thought you were dead,” he finally managed, his breath shuddering in a tight chest. He sat down, looking her over. She was perfectly fine. Even if the white hair threw him a bit, it was obviously a wig up close. And the little black dress she wore showed enough he could tell she was whole. He swallowed his heart, trying to get his mind and his breath under control. “Juliette…”

“My name isn't Juliette,” she said. Her voice was perfectly controlled. In fact, it was fairly emotionless. Like a robot. It actually dampened the emotion slightly and he was able to focus.

“What am I supposed to call you?” he asked.

“They call me Eve.”

“Why Eve?”

“Because I'm starting over.”

Nick felt his jaw twitch. This was…wrong. He’d thought, maybe worried, he’d still have those warm feelings for her. But seeing her now and seeing her so…blasé made his gut twist in anger rather than love. Hornets, not butterflies. “Do you really think it's that easy?” he asked.

“It wasn't easy.”

He narrowed his eyes and leaned in. “You want to know what isn't easy? Knowing that you set me up...And that you tried to set up my mother. Cost her, her eyes. And then whatever it is you did to Sloane…” She stared at him placidly and he grit his teeth. “What, are you gonna pretend like you don't remember?”

“I remember everything,” she said. “I would have killed you.”

He sat back and huffed. “Well, the night is young.” She looked away then, scanning the room with her eyes. And then back to him. Methodical. No movement wasted. He was reminded again of a robot and it gave him and eerie feeling. “What did they do to you?”

“What they had to.” She looked like she was remembering something for a moment before looking back up. “They saved me.”

“Did they?” he asked, not quite believing her.

“And I saved you.”

“Why?” She looked away again, her eyes trained on something and he leaned in. “Tell me why,” he pressed. She didn’t turn back, and he slapped a hand on the table. “Look at me!” She did, but she didn’t look scared, or frightened, or remorseful. She looked like she was just…there. “Why did you even agree to meet me here?”

“Because they need you.”

“For what?” he asked, looking confused.

She didn’t say anything else as she rose, grabbing her coat. Nick was about to ask her what she was doing when he saw she was following a group of three men as they were leaving from a nearby table. The one she’d been likely watching all night. She pulled her coat on, then pulled up the hood to cover her hair and cast a shadow over her face. Nick couldn’t see, but the way her head tilted he had a feeling she woged. The man in the cream suit, between two in darker suits, was on his phone but slowed his walk. His hand went to his head and he grunted, looking pained. He dropped his phone, clutching his skull with both hands now before his ears erupted in blood. He woged briefly into a Schinderdiv (warthog-like) wesen before collapsing, dead.

The two bodyguards woged into schakals and turned, snarling at Juli…Eve, and drawing their guns. Everyone in the restaurant began to panic and run, screaming and yelling. Nick rushed over and kicked one schakal before he could shoot, punching the other one. The roared and tried to fight him, knocking down servers and patrons alike. Nick managed to toss one away and grabbed a steak knife off the table— “ _Throw it like you would a baseball,”_ Sloane’s voice came into his head—and let it fly, striking one in the chest. The other tried to get to his throat with his teeth but Nick tussled with him and then threw him out the window. A shard of glass was in his neck and he unwoged as he closed his eyes, likely dying quickly.

He looked back into the restaurant and saw Eve was nowhere in sight. He ran for the door, finally hearing the sirens through the blood in his ears as two cop cars pulled up as he got to the street. One officer from each got out, pointing their guns. “Police! Let me see your hands!”

Nick grabbed his badge and held it up. “Hey, police, hey! I'm on the job. There was a man attacked inside the restaurant.”

They glanced at one another but quickly holstered their weapons to follow him. “How many we looking for?”

“Two. One of them's right there,” he said, pointing at the first schakal. Easy to say they did it, given they were dead. “There's another one inside also dead. Both weapons are inside on the floor. Threat's over but secure the area. There are some people inside. I want to get them out,” he said as he walked inside.

“You off duty?”

Nick thought quickly and shook his head. “No, I was meeting one of my CIs. That's the victim there,” he said, pointing to the man in the cream suit. “First suspect's right here,” he pointed to the man with the knife in his chest.

The officer stared; a bit awed. “You do that?”

“I didn't want to risk shooting in a restaurant,” Nick said evasively.

“Wow…”

Nick’s phone rang and he pulled it out, happy to have an excuse to not talk to the officers while he looked at the man Eve killed more closely. “Yeah, Burkhardt.”

“It went well.”

Nick paused and then growled under his breath and started looking around, expecting he was nearby. “Meisner.”

“The man is Samuel Rankin, one of the organizers for Black Claw. This was the one opportunity we had. The others are his bodyguards. You probably figured that one out.”

“A lot of innocent people could've been hurt,” Nick growled.

“That's why we wanted you to be there.”

“What the hell is this, some kind of test?”

“It was. I'll be in touch. Sorry about the mess,” he added before hanging up. Nick glared at his phone but sighed.

\-------------------

He told the others and Renard about the meeting turned assassination. All were troubled—both by what they put Nick through and what Juliette— _Eve_ —did to the man. Nick suggested pinning the murder on Rankin’s bodyguards since they couldn’t bring Juliette in and they were black claw anyway. Renard agreed, but pointed out they needed names to go with their suspects. Thus, began their hunt for the two Schakal’s identities.

“I got nothing on any of the victims,” Hank sighed.

“The fingerprints don't match anything we got,” Nick sighed back.

Wu walked up, setting a folder down with his own sigh. “They located a rental car that we matched to the victims, but the ID used to rent the car was stolen. So was the credit card. What do we do next?”

“Always dental records?” Hank suggested.

“I doubt they were local, or national,” Nick said.

“I thought you were going to say you doubted they went to the dentist and was ready to agree,” Wu said.

“Hey, Nick!” They all paused and looked up to see Trubel jogging up, her helmet under her arm. It had been a couple of days since she turned up, but she was already nearly healed thanks to Adalind. “I've been thinking about what happened to you last night. Hey, Hank. Hey, Wu. Are you pissed? I'd be pissed. I am pissed. They should've told you.”

Nick arched his brow, wondering if Trubel had gotten into his ultra-caffeinated coffee he kept for all-nighters. “It would've been nice to know who I had to kill.”

“That would be Samuel Rankin's two Schakal bodyguards.” She looked at the photos and picked one up of the man he’d killed with the knife. “Sig Ganz. Czech national, 32. Not that he was using that name. Born in Tuchomence, recruited by Black Claw three years ago.” Nick’s eyes widened and he looked at the other men who were equally surprised. “And Otto Gruenwaldt...” She found his photo and held it up, the broken glass still in his neck. “36, born in Woltersdorf, East Germany. His father was Stasi. Black Claw enforcer, recruited four years ago.”

“You know anything about Samuel Rankin?” he asked, holding up the picture. It was nice for a well of information to just spill over them.

“Oh yeah. Real name Rolf Kleinager. One of the _founders_ of Black Claw. I mean, we're pretty sure he met with Alva Zajic and Arnaud Dubois ten years ago at the thermal baths outside of Bad Zurzach.” They looked at her blankly. “…It's a small Swiss town on the edge of the Black Forest.”

“Not the part that confused me the most, but thanks,” Wu said.

“Look, Kleinager was a big kill for us. I get why they did it when they could, even if I don’t like them involving you without you’re okay. Oh, and, um, Meisner called. That's why I'm here. He wants to talk to you.”

Nick sat up straighter. “When?”

“Now. But alone still,” she added, looking at Hank and Wu regretfully.

They didn’t look happy, but Wu held out a pen and paper. “Write down those names again so we can cover Nick’s ass and I’ll let it go. For now.”

She nodded, quickly doing so and they headed out. Nick followed her motorcycle in his jeep, following her into the woods. It was actually more than an hour outside town, hidden in the woods near Tillamook. He saw the compound—it looked like an old water treatment plant. But Trubel headed to a secret entrance at the side just barely big enough for him to drive down into the tunnel. The tunnel closed behind him. He got out, looking towards the sliding door with a frown. Then lights came on behind the columns at the side and he walked over to Trubel. “Obviously, we're not alone.”

“No. You're not.” He looked up and saw Meisner come out from one corner, walking towards them. Nick glared and he sighed. “There was no other way. But you proved yourself.”

“To who?” Nick challenged.

“Eve.”

Nick narrowed his eyes again but Meisner turned and headed for the elevator at the end of the hall. Trubel followed and Nick followed her. They went up to another floor in silence. Once they got to wherever they were going, Trubel got out and led them both through an austere concrete hallway full of doors. She stopped at one and opened it up. She set her helmet on the bed, patting down one corner of the blanket. Nick walked in and the bedroom was sparse. A bed, a set of drawers, a closet, a rack of armor, and an even larger wrack of weapons. A sniper rifle, knives, guns, shotgun, sub-machine gun, crossbow, arrows, and grenades were all hung on the wire holder and he was surprised.

“This is my room,” she said, a little awkwardly.

Nick looked around and couldn’t help but feel this was too much like a prison cell. It was maybe a step above, but it was still claustrophobic in just how much it shut out the world outside the compound. And he knew there was a camera there, he could hear it. “This is where they put you…”

“This is where they put all of us,” Meisner corrected.

Nick turned to look at him in the doorway. “Who is "they"?”

“Branch of the Federal Government. Don't try to find it. It doesn't exist,” he said knowingly.

“So, I suppose I've never seen any of this?” He asked, looking to Trubel. She nodded, though shrugged as well, knowing it was a little cliché. “Where's Eve? And will you tell me where Sloane is now?”

Meisner looked at Trubel who shook her head. He sighed gestured to follow him but Trubel hanged back. “I'll be here, Nick.” He nodded and she sighed, sitting down as he left. Nick had a bad feeling but followed Meisner out.

“So, Renard told me you worked for the Resistance,” Nick said as they walked down the hall.

“I did. But this is much bigger than that.”

“How high up does this go?”

“I don't know. But as you can tell, we're not without funding. And don't ask me where that comes from either. 'Cause I don't know.” He walked to the door at the end of the hall. “She's inside. I'll give you a few minutes.” He knocked on the door.

“Enter.”

Meisner walked away and Nick looked at the door. Grabbing the handle, he hesitated before taking a deep breath and opening it. Eve stood across from the door. She was dressed in a black shirt and leather pants. The wig was gone, and her hair was still red underneath though it looked darker. To the side was an open closet with clothes, and an array of wigs. The white-blonde one was near the side on its mannequin head. He stepped in. “You wanted me to prove myself?”

“You did,” she said, no emotion in her voice.

“You should've told me.”

“We had to know how you would react. If you let your emotions get in the way, you'd be no good to us.”

Nick glared and walked towards her. “You really believe in all of this.”

“Not at first. I didn't believe in anything.”

“What about now?”

“I found a reason to live.”

Nick set his jaw and turned away, pacing a little. “Do you feel remorse for anything you've done?”

“You mean what she did.”

“What you did,” he growled, turning to her.

“You still think you're talking to Juliette,” she said.

He looked at her face and shook his head. “I don't know who I'm talking to.”

“Yes, you do. You just won't accept it.”

“Maybe I can't…” he rubbed over his face before sighing. “Where’s Sloane.”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t give me that! After what you did—”

“What Juliette did—”

“Say it however you want, but Hadrien’s Wall took her at the same time they took you and I haven’t seen her since!” he yelled.

“…You thought I was here the other night. I heard you call her name. You sounded desperate for it to be her.”

Nick looked away. “…The wig threw me. I thought it might be in that light.”

“…You miss her.”

“Of course, I miss her!” She stared at him and he huffed. “Look…whatever you think, Sloane and I didn’t do anything behind your back. We didn’t do anything at all!”

“This doesn’t matter to me. Juliette was the one who was angry at you about that.”

“Well it matters to me that you know I never cheated on Juliette. Not willingly. I loved her. And she was the one that turned her back on me and our friends. And hurt Sloane. And whatever happened, Sloane didn’t deserve what Juliette did and now I want her home safe so if you know anything, you better damn well tell me because whoever you want to call yourself now, you admitted you _remember._ It was those hands that did it _._ ”

She was quiet a moment, looking at him stony-faced before speaking. “If we're gonna work together, you have to stop living in your past.”

“What do you mean, "work together"?” he snapped.

“You're here for a reason.” She moved to step past him and paused. A small bit of emotion leaked into her voice. “My only regret is that you didn't have a chance to bury Juliette.” Nick felt his heart twist, but she kept moving out the door. “There's more for you to see. Your questions will be answered there.” Nick followed, not bothering to close the door.

He followed her down another hallway. Some men were guarding a door that was made of a metal grate that he could see through before they unlocked it. It was a room filled with metal tables, computers, a huge TV on one wall playing footage from various news channels, other monitors showing maps from all around the world. Trubel was there, searching on a laptop, and Meisner looked up and went to meet them. “This is one of HW's command centers,” he explained when he saw Nick’s bewildered look.

“There are more?”

“Oh, yeah. This is a war. It's happening all over the world.”

“And we're fighting it,” Trubel added.

“Take a look at this,” Meisner grabbed a pad and pressed a few buttons, bringing a world map onto the biggest screen at the front. Several cities were marked and lit up. “The hot spots are Wesen uprisings: Brazil, Northern Ireland, Turkey, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Ukraine.”

“That's all Wesen related?” Nick asked, shocked.

“All of it. There are people displaced all over the world because of what they're doing.”

“No one understands the real reason behind any of it,” Eve added.

“Which is what?”

“A world run by Wesen. It’s been tried several times in the past. Alexander the Great, Genghis Kahn…The most recent was Hitler. Black Claw is trying again.”

Nick tried to absorb that all, looking at it all with a mix of awe and fear. Meisner nodded to the door. “Let me show you something.” He walked out and Nick cast another look at Eve before following him. Meisner actually exited the building through a side door into the woods and Nick blinked at the sudden burst of natural light before his eyes adjusted He followed him a way off, to an area where they could see they had been digging. “What is this?”

“It's our graveyard. Chavez is here. The ones you were supposed to meet are here too.”

“So, you cleaned it up,” he said, looking at him.

“We had to.”

Nick sighed and looked around. “Why bring me here? …” His eyes widened, and he suddenly got a sick feeling. “I…is Sloane here?”

He shook his head. “No.” He pulled out the tablet again and brought up a report. “When we took Ms. Larson from your home, she was catatonic. Whatever Juliette did, it wasn’t something we could visually assess. So, we diverted her car to head to a medical facility we have our hands in north of here. On the way however, something happened that caused them to wreck. Everyone was alive, but she wasn’t found. According to their reports, Ms. Larson attacked them and then fled the scene, appearing disoriented.”

“…Well, you did kidnap her,” Nick pointed out, reading over the reports.

“To get her treatment,” he stressed. “I understand why you aren’t keen on trusting us. What we did with Juliette was what we felt was the best at the time to keep her from going down a much darker path than she already had. We’re not sure, but we believe that a powerful Hexe or Zauberbiest is pulling some of these strings. If Juliette had joined him, we would likely be overwhelmed. Turning her into Eve has given us the best chance of keeping her alive, as well as combating him. Ms. Larson…Sloane, was in no danger from us.”

“You kidnapped Trubel. Pushed her into this.”

“Chavez was insistent, I admit. She’d already lost several of her own agents and was keen to get someone who could actually put a dent in Black Claw. Sloane was her first choice, by reputation. But she would not have harmed her, or Trubel, to get them on their side. Eve’s condition was by orders of those pulling our own strings. It was that or let her die and then she would be here,” he gestured at the ground.

“…So, you don’t know where Sloane is?”

“No. We are looking for her, but she’s still in the wind. I didn’t think she’d go far but she’s still managed to evade our searches. I don’t know why she hasn’t returned home… I’m going to keep trying till we know where she is or what happened to her, but I can’t keep constant manpower on it. Not while Black Claw is also killing people in the streets.”

Nick was quiet, looking at the report. There was a picture of Sloane in the car, eyes closed, looking asleep or dead. But also, a video showing the wreck from the driver’s perspective and he saw Sloane running into the woods as if her life depended on it. He frowned deeply.

“We want your help,” Meisner said more gently. “We need it for what's coming.” Nick eyed him and handed the tablet back. Meisner took it and headed back to the compound while Nick sighed, pacing a little as he thought over the video. Why was she running like that? Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. But he had no idea where to start trying to find her.

\----------------------

“So, she could be alive?” Rosalee asked.

“Yes…but then, the question is why she hasn’t contacted us in three months?” Nick said, looking at the table pensively. “If she was trying to escape, she did. But she hasn’t come back.”

The others he’d called to meet at the shop all looked at one another worriedly.

“Maybe she’s hurt somewhere…” Hank said.

“If she was hurt in the woods, I don’t know if we can find her,” Wu said.

“Hey, she’s a Grimm, she’d figure out how to survive,” Monroe said.

Adalind was quiet. “…Maybe I shouldn’t move into her house. She’ll want it back I’m sure…”

“…We don’t know when that will be,” Nick sighed. “You said that they were talking about taking Diana further away. I don’t want you to miss out on getting her back again. Sloane wouldn’t either.”

“Yeah…Sloane would understand,” Rosalee agreed. “As long as I know there’s a chance she’s out there, I can breathe a little easier. We just have to find her.”

“I already called and explained things to Bud,” Nick added. “He’s going to start tomorrow. He says he thinks it’ll take another month to get everything sorted. We just need to go and get Sloane’s stuff.”

“We’ll help with that,” Monroe said.

“Okay. I can store it at my place. I’ve got plenty of room downstairs…”

\-------------------

Packing up Sloane’s house was hard.

They all went to get it done as fast as possible. They all ended up crying a little at one point going through her pictures, souvenirs and room. Nick found the box of things she’d brought from her house in Wildred and the stuffed rabbit inside. He was surprised but smiled a little. He needed a good cleaning for sure. Rather than put him back in the box or leave him for Diana, which maybe would’ve been good but didn’t feel right, he took him with him up to the loft and cleaned him up. His dingy grey fur was surprisingly a bright sunny yellow when he got it clean. He hanged him up to dry.

After that, Bud got to work. It was a month of cleaning, pulling up and replacing floors, replacing windows and walls, fixing wiring and ensuring everything else was structurally sound before it was ready. Adalind paid for the renovations despite Nick offering to help. She then bought furniture for the back room—Now with a more fortified window—suitable for a toddler. Kelly moved what little she really had out of the loft into the guest room, and Adalind moved into the master. Everything was ready when it turned four months since Sloane had disappeared.

Adalind paced back and forth, antsy. Henrietta and Kelly—who were getting along swimmingly much to their surprise—sat on the couch waiting. She’d asked the others to wait, not wanting to overwhelm Diana or scare whoever was bringing her. “Where are they?”

“I’m sure they aren’t far,” Henrietta said.

“Considering it’s not time yet, you need to relax,” Kelly added.

“But it’s close enough!”

Henrietta sighed and stood, going over to pat her back. “Adalind. Breathe.”

Adalind frowned but took a deep breath. Then the doorbell rang, and she ran over to it, nearly throwing it open. She jumped when she saw who it was. “Meisner…?”

“Adalind,” he smiled. “You look well…”

“Really, because she was kind of frantic a second ago,” Kelly said, standing.

“Kelly. So, you really are staying here as well?”

“Not a whole lot of options for a blind Grimm.”

“Ah…Well, I know someone will be happy to see you both.” He stepped aside and Diana looked up at them all in confusion.

“Diana…sweety,” Adalind said, moving towards her. She then quickly hid behind Meisner again and Adalind paused, trying not to look hurt. “Honey…I…”

Meisner gently picked her up. “Diana…I know things were scary last time you and your mommy got together. But that won’t happen this time. You’ll be safe here; we’re going to make sure of it.”

Diana looked at him, her eyes still so intelligent for a toddler. Then back at Adalind. “…Mama?”

Adalind felt a few tears escape again. “That’s right, honey…I swear, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Not again. This is going to be our house for a while. You’ll get to stay here. And Kelly is too.”

Kelly smiled and waved. “Hey, Kiddo…”

“…Kiki?”

They all paused for a second before Adalind looked at her. “Kiki?”

Kelly flushed just slightly but smiled. “It’s what I was trying to get her to call me instead of “mama”. Didn’t feel right to take that title from you. My sister used to call me that when we were children…”

“…It’s cute,” she smiled.

“Kiki owie,” Diana said, covering one of her eyes.

“Yes, sweety. Big owie. But I’m going to be okay,” she said gently.

“And this is my friend, Henrietta,” Adalind said.

Henrietta smiled. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Diana.”

Diana’s eyes glowed briefly but then she nodded.

“I’ll be visiting on and off too while you get settled. It’ll be me or Susannah. She wanted to be here, but we urgently needed her expertise elsewhere.”

“…Nick told me a bit about what’s going on,” Adalind said. She smiled when Diana reached for her and pulled her in to hold her close, protective. “Wesen are really rising up everywhere?”

“Yes,” he sighed. “As Susannah suggested, we may come to you for advice on certain things. You as well, Ms.…”

“Just Henrietta,” she said. “But from what we’re told, you managed to get a Hexenbiest working with you…under questionable means.”

“Very questionable,” Kelly added.

Meisner coughed slightly under the judging gazes. “I would like to say, once more, I was not keen on the plan. But…Eve is proving invaluable. The amount of people we’ve saved thanks to her…makes it worth it. At least in my book.”

They looked unsure but Adalind gave him a hard look. “As long as she’s not coming after me or Diana again, you can keep her.”

Meisner nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ve made sure she understands, you are off limits.”

“Good…Diana, you want to see your room? I started decorating it myself.” Diana looked curious and Adalind headed down the hall, smiling happily.

“She’s probably going to be sleeping in there with her for the next few nights…” Kelly said.

“I can’t blame her…but she’s held up well. She’s very strong,” Meisner said.

“That she is,” Henrietta smiled.

“Ms. Larson is as well. I believe she is still out there,” he said.

“We do too…it’s finding her that’s the problem,” Kelly sighed.

“We will keep looking and let you all know if we find anything. You’re son has not given us an answer as far as working for us.”

Kelly smiled. “He’ll do what needs to be done, just leave it at that.”

Meisner smiled, not arguing with her.

“It’s been almost three months though, since Sloane went missing,” Henrietta said.

“We’ll keep looking, no matter how long it takes.” He reached into his pocket. “I have a phone for each of you. If we need you, or if anything comes up, we will contact you through this phone only. No one else will know the number, and you should not use it to contact anyone else.”

“Oh, very covert,” Henrietta smiled, taking it. “If a little outdated, a flip phone?”

“I promise, it’s not a normal flip phone,” he smiled.

“Meisner! Do you want to stay for lunch?” Adalind suddenly called.

“Oh, I shouldn’t…”

“Nonsense,” Kelly smiled. “You’ll want to say goodbye to Diana after all, won’t you?”

He nodded slightly, though it felt a little like he’d just fallen prey to the lions at the watering hole.

\----------------

The first few days alone in the loft, Nick didn’t really know what to do. He hadn’t lived alone in years. Even while Juliette had left, it hadn’t felt like he was alone because she was everywhere even when he wanted to forget her. Now, he had the whole of the loft to himself and it felt…quiet. Not in a relieving way, but more in an encroaching way that made him feel alone.

He set up an area to work out down in the garage of the loft to try and take his mind off of things. Pull-up bar, punching bag, weights, all the things he really needed to try and focus on getting stronger. Because he knew Black Claw wasn’t gone—likely, they were just getting started.

One night he thought he saw a shadow in his window through the shade. Something large and monstrous in the light of the streetlight. He grabbed his gun, walking over to it—but it swiftly moved away before he could open the shade and see. He decided he was tired and needed sleep, not hearing the sound of claws on stone as it ran away.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, Sloane is MIA...for now. Any bets on what Juliette did to her? What the shadow following them is?  
> I added in a bit more things here as far as action and dialogue to expand things, not just about Sloane but in general I wanted more info so I filled in the gaps myself XD Kelly will get a bit of sight back eventually, but it's never going to be 100% again. I especially wanted her around for more future plans for original stuff.
> 
> Hope everyone is staying healthy!


End file.
